Transgenic Core Facility Personnel

Dr. Serene Wohlgemuth
Manager, Transgenic Core Facility

Dr. Serene Wohlgemuth is the manager of the Transgenic Core Facility. She obtained her BSc in Molecular Genetics and her PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics, both from the University of Alberta. Her PhD focused on developmental genetics in zebrafish embryos, specifically the role of a chaperone-like protein in muscle and heart development. Following her PhD, she began work as a research technologist in the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases (CPPFD). This work, with a focus on molecular biology, was under Dr. David Westaway. Building upon her experience in embryo injection and with initial funding from the PrioNet NCE and the CFI to Dr. Westaway, she commenced the production of transgenic mice by pronuclear microinjection. Working in the CPPFD facility, since 2010 she has since made 11 new transgenic lines for researchers at the University of Alberta and elsewhere.

Central transgenic services at the University of Alberta were disbanded with departure of Dr. Peter Dickie in 2007 and were re-established as a core facility run by Dr. Wohlgemuth in 2012. This core facility offers services related to the production of traditional transgenic mice through pronuclear microinjection and, more recently, has initiated experiments on CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering. It also provides mouse sperm cryopreservation, sperm and embryo cryo-recovery, and re-derivation services for the production of pathogen-free mouse stocks.