Our story

We are part of the Division of Signaling and Functional Genomics at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. The lab develops and applies functional genomics to understand context dependent functions of signaling molecules and discover vulnerabilities of tumor cells. Our team focuses on the development of novel CRISPR genome engineering tools for use in Drosophila and other systems. We value collaboration, openness and diversity.

CRISPRflydesign started in 2013 in the Cell Biology Division of the MCR-LMB in Cambridge. Initially a small curiosity-driven side project during Fillip’s postdoc, it quickly became a major focus of his work. Together with Simon Bullock and later Nadine Muschalik he developed the sgRNA plasmids pCFD1-6 and a number of transgenic Cas9 strains, which are now in use in many fly labs around the world.

In 2016, Fillip moved to Heidelberg and joined the Divion of Signaling and Functional Genomics, headed by Michael Boutros. The team here includes Mona Stricker and Claudia Strein as technicians, and usually two gap year students who join us for a year after their A-levels to gain lab experience before deciding on a university degree. We are often joined by undergraduates from Heidelberg University or abroad for lab rotations or master’s theses. The team has developed the HD-CFD library, a large-scale collection of transgenic sgRNA strains that allow efficient tissue-specific mutagenesis of Drosophila genes. We have also significantly expanded the fly geneome engineeing toolbox, introducing a highly active Cas12a nuclease system and developing base editing for precision gene editing.