
The Genome Engineering team assists Stowers researchers in the precise and specific alteration of genetic material of research organisms and cultured cells.
The Genome Engineering team supports the CRISPR-Cas technology in several model systems, including mouse, zebrafish, cavefish, fruit fly, sea anemone, apple snail, and mammalian cell lines. Their services include guideRNA design and assembly, donor template design and assembly, reagent preparation for injection or electroporation, and engineering mammalian cell lines.
The team also provides a targeted deep sequencing service for detecting and identifying engineered mutations, and support for pooled screens, such as CRISPR a/i. Other services include building or acquiring new pooled libraries, followed by preparation and validation by next-generation sequencing. Resulting screened cell populations are processed for genomic DNA purification, target amplification, and next-generation sequencing. The team is responsible for maintaining and distributing 150,000+ clones and vectors. The thirty-four collections of clones include yeast, fly, mouse, human, and expression vectors.
- Integra ViaFlo 96
- Integra Assist
- MicroPro 300 Benchtop 96 Channel Pipettor
- Lonza 4D Nucleofector
- Luna-FL cell counter
- Labchip GX Tough HT-DNA Analyzer
- Promega Maxwell 16 and RSC
- BioRad T100 and C1000 thermocyclers

Kym Delventhal joined the Institute in 2003 and served numerous roles on the former Molecular Biology Team where, in 2012, she started a genome engineering service that expanded rapidly. In 2019, she became Head of Genome Engineering. In this role, she manages a team that focuses on supporting genome engineering technology across the Institute and driving collaborations with other Stowers technology centers.
Delventhal graduated from Kansas State University in 2003 with degrees in microbiology and chemistry. While there, she was a research assistant in the Wheat Genetics Resource Center. Delventhal is a member of the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF), served as chair of the ABRF-Genome Editing Research Group from 2017-2019 and 2021, and was recently elected to the Executive Board for 2022-2025.