Knock-out cell lines

Knock-out cell lines are powerful tools to understand disease mechanisms and validate potential therapeutic targets

• Gene editing services
  • Benefits of our gene-edited cell lines
• Abcam’s strategy for generating high-quality gene-edited cell lines
• Gene editing resources
  • Introduction to gene editing
  • Gene-edited cell lines in drug discovery
  • Using gene-edited cell lines for validation
  • Webinars
  • Case studies and publications
• FAQs

Progressing a drug from target validation to market authorization is a long journey, and CRISPR technology has played a critical role in streamlining this process.

Knock-out (KO) cell lines help overcome the significant challenge of accessing the correct controls during assay development and enable confident interrogation of the relationship between genotype and phenotype.

Before creating KO cell lines, there are several factors to consider, and the process can take many months. Using high-quality ready-made cell lines is the quickest and most cost-effective option to accelerate your program.

Find your KO cell line

Gene editing services

​Gene-edited cell lines play an important role in many stages of the drug discovery pipeline, including validating reagents and targets. We offer an extensive catalog of high-quality ready-made and made-to-order KO cell lines so you can save time and move your project forward.

Benefits of our gene-edited cell lines:

• Quickly find your target with our easy-to-navigate catalog and ordering process
• Physiologically relevant and certified mycoplasm-free cell backgrounds
• Controls are provided with all orders to help you produce robust, reproducible results

Abcam's strategy for generating high-quality gene-edited cell lines

Gene-edited cell lines must undergo rigorous quality control checks to produce consistent and robust data throughout your workflow. 

We have optimized our CRISPR editing platform to ensure quality at every stage and generate well-characterized cell lines. Our process includes:

• Comprehensive web-based gRNA design tools for increased accuracy
• A dual gRNA system resulting in over 95% efficiency
• Delivering CRISPR ribonucleoprotein complexes directly into cells, so no extra genetic material is left behind
• Thorough genomic and proteomic validation to confirm the KO, using highly-specific recombinant monoclonal antibodies where possible

Learn more about how we generate KO cell lines

Gene editing resources

Introduction to gene editing

• Generating cell knock-outs with CRISPR-Cas9 technology: learn more about the CRISPR-Cas9 system in addition to advantages and considerations of this technique
• Five steps to watch out for when generating KO cell lines: learn how to avoid common pitfalls when generating KO cell lines
• Fast track your research with KO cell lines: see how using high-quality ready-made KO cell lines can cut months off your timeline
• Do you need a KO cell line or lysate?: Use our infographic to quickly find out if you need a KO cell line or lysate based on your research question and assay type

Gene-edited cell lines in drug discovery

• How you can use KO cell lines: explore the many applications for KO cell lines, including drug discovery, assay development, reagent validation, and pathway investigation
• Using KO cell lines in assay development: our experienced cell lines team discusses how KO cell lines can streamline assay development
• How CRISPR cell engineering accelerates the drug pipeline: we highlight how CRISPR cell engineering can cut pipeline attrition at several stages, including target identification and lead optimization

Using gene-edited cell lines for validation

• KO validation: confirming antibody specificity: see how we use KO validation to improve antibody specificity in our catalog
• KO validation: overcoming the perils of poor antibody specificity: discover how KO cell lines can improve antibody validation and increase reproducibility.

Webinars

• Knock-out cell lines and their role in confirming antibody specificity: Listen to Dr Will Howatt, Abcam’s Director of Antibody Validation, as he describes the role KO cell lines have in antibody validation
• Understanding physiologically relevant pathways using Abcam’s knock-out cell lines: Abcam application scientists Frank He and Daniel Wing outline Abcam’s cell engineering capabilities and how KO cell lines can be used to investigate signaling pathways
• Harnessing the power of knock-out validation for research reproducibility: Dr Hanna Dreja, Abcam’s Principal Quality Control Scientist, discusses how KO cell lines can increase reproducibility across the life science industry

Case studies and publications

• Applying CRISPR to the drug discovery pipeline: read case studies on how CRISPR cell lines are being used to accelerate the drug discovery pipeline
• CRISPR KO cell line publications: a collection of publications demonstrating the use of KO cell lines
• KO cell lines and lysates for COVID-19 research: a curated list of high-quality products to help accelerate your COVID-19 research

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)