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Nina Alperovich (Fed)

Biological Science Technician

Nina Alperovich has a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and 20 years’ experience in Synthetic Biology. For 14 years she worked in the Synthetic Biology Department of the J. Craig Venter Institute. Her work focused on the development of molecular tools and new synthetic biology techniques for recognition of minimal genomes and the creation of the first Synthetic cell.

She assembled the complete synthetic Human Cytomegalovirus, Herpes Simplex Virus 1 for development of a new generation of vaccine production.

Nina was honored as co-author with the ENI Award for Research and Environment, reported as an unofficial Nobel Prize for energy research for the 2007 paper: “Genome Transplantation in Bacteria: Changing One Species to Another.”

Nina is currently working in NIST as a Biological Science Technician on the Cellular Engineering team, where she is interested in the development and implementation of living sensors, and improving the predictability, reliability, and stability of engineered biological systems.

Nina developed the fluorescence microscopy methods for comparisons of the different variants of the RNA-FISH measurement; a simple method for in situ, multiplexed measurement of RNA degradation by flow cytometry; single-cell measurement of plasmid copies number and promoter activity.

She is also developed RT-qPCR methods to quantitatively measure the ribozyme cleavage efficiency in a broad range of biological contexts and environments.

Nina developed the automated methods for multiple projects using Hamilton STAR Liquid Handler and Living Measurement Systems Foundry robotic systems:

  • Automation Protocol for Plasmid DNA Extraction from E. coli.
  • Automation Protocol for DNA Barcode Sequencing Library Preparation.
  • Automation Protocol for High-Efficiency and High-Quality Genomic DNA Extraction from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

 

Selected Publications

  • Nina Alperovich, Benjamin M. Scott, David Ross /Automation Protocol for High-Efficiency and High-Quality Genomic DNA Extraction from Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, PLOS ONE, Oct 17,2023, E 18(10): e0292401. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0292401.
  • Nina Alperovich, Benjamin M. Scott, David Ross/ Automation Protocol for High-Efficiency and High-Quality Genomic DNA Extraction from Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. Protocols.io, Aug 22, 2023. https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/p rotocols.io.8epv592p5g1b/v3
  • Drew Tack, Peter Tonner, Abe Pressman, Nathanael Olson, Sasha Levy, Eugenia Romantseva, Nina Alperovich, Olga Vasilyeva, and David Ross/ Precision engineering of biological function with large-scale measurements and machine learning, PLOS ONE, Nov 2, 2022. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.02835…
  • Eugenia Romantseva, Nina Alperovich, David Ross, Steven P Lund, Elizabeth A Strychalski/Effects of DNA template preparation on variability in cell-free protein production, i, Synthetic Biology, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2022, ysac015, https://doi.org/10.1093/synbio/ysac015
  • Eugenia F. Romantseva, Drew S. Tack, Nina Alperovich, David Ross, Elizabeth A. Strychalski/Best Practices for DNA Template Preparation Toward Improved Reproducibility in Cell-Free Protein Production, Methods in Molecular biology, January 5, 2022, vol 2433. Humana, New York, NY, January 5, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1998-8_1
  • Eugenia F. Romantseva, David Ross, Nina Alperovich, Elizabeth A. Strychalski/Automated DNA template preparation and quantitation methods, Protocols.io, March 23, 2022. https://www.protocols.io/view/automated-dna-template-preparation-and-quantitatio-j8nlkk8rdl5r/v1
  • Beal Jacob, Telmer Cheryl, Vignoni Alejandro, Boada Yadira, Baldwin Geoff, Hallett Liam, Lee Taeyang, Selvarajhah Vinoo, Billerbeck Sonja, Brown Bradley, Cai Guo-nan, Cai Liang, Eisenstein Edward, Kiga Daisuke, Ross David, Alperovich Nina, Sprent Noah, Thompson Jaclyn, Young Eric, Endy Drew, Haddock-Angelli Traci/Multicolor Plate Reader Fluorescence Calibration, , Synthetic Biology, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2022, ysac010, https://doi.org/10.1093/synbio/ysac010
  • Drew Tack, Peter Tonner, Abe Pressman, Nathanael Olson, Sasha Levy, Eugenia Romantseva, Nina Alperovich, Olga Vasilyeva, and David Ross /Precision engineering of biological function with large-scale measurements and machine learning, birXiv, August 5, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.04.502789
  • Drew S Tack, Peter D Tonner, Abe Pressman, Nathan D Olson, Sasha F Levy, Eugenia F Romantseva, Nina Alperovich, Olga Vasilyeva & David Ross/The genotype-phenotype landscape of an allosteric protein/ Mol Syst Biol. (2021)
  • Jayan Rammohan, Steven P. Lund, Nina Alperovich, Vanya Paralanov, Elizabeth A. Strychalski & David Ross/ Comparison of bias and resolvability in single-cell and single-transcript methods/ Communications Biology, 2021.
  • Shao B, Rammohan J, Anderson DA, Alperovich N, Ross D, Voigt/ Single-cell measurement of plasmid copy number and promoter activity/Nature Communication, 2021.
  • Jayan Rammohan, Nina Alperovich, Bin Shao, David Ross/ A simple method for in situ, multiplexed measurement of RNA degradation by flow cytometry/ bioRxiv, Sept 17, 2021.
  • Nina Alperovich, Eugenia Romantseva, Olga Vasilyeva, & David Ross /Automation Protocol for Plasmid DNA Extraction from E. coli/ /Protocols.io, Apr 03, 2021  https://www.protocols.io/view/automation-protocol-for-plasmid-dna-extraction-fro-bjjvkkn6
  • Nina Alperovich, Olga Vasilyeva, David Ross/Automation Protocol for DNA Barcode Sequencing Library Preparation /Protocols.io (Apr 03, 2021) https://www.protocols.io/view/automation-protocol-for-dna-barcode-sequencing-lib-bjjzkkp6
  • Drew S Tack, Nina Alperovich, Olga Vasilyeva, & David Ross/ Assembly of plasmids for LacI genotype-phenotype landscape measurement/ /Protocols.io (Apr 03, 2021)             https://www.protocols.io/view/assembly-of-plasmids-for-laci-genotype-phenotype-l-bjjxkkpn
  • Sanjay Vashee, Timothy B. Stockwell, Nina Alperovich, Evgeniya A. Denisova, Daniel G. Gibson, Kyle C. Cady, Kristofer Miller, Krishna Kannan, Daniel Malouli, Lindsey B. Crawford, Alexander A. Voorhies, Eric Bruening, Patrizia Caposio, Klaus Frühd/ Cloning, Assembly, and Modification of the Primary Human Cytomegalovirus Isolate Toledo by Yeast-Based Transformation-Associated RecombinationmSphere, 2017 Oct 05
  • Sanjay Vashee, Timothy B. Stockwell, Nina Alperovich, Evgeniya A. Denisova, Daniel G. Gibson, Kyle C. Cady, Kristofer Miller, Krishna Kannan, Daniel Malouli, Lindsey B. Crawford, Alexander A. Voorhies, Eric Bruening, Patrizia Caposio, Klaus Frühd/ Cloning, Assembly, and Modification of the Primary Human Cytomegalovirus Isolate Toledo by Yeast-Based Transformation-Associated RecombinationmSphere, 2017 Oct 05
  • Lauren M. Oldfield, Peter Grzesik, Alexander A. Voorhies, Nina Alperovich, Derek MacMath, Claudia D. Najera, Diya Sabrina Chandra, Sanjana Prasad, Vladimir N. Noskov, Michael G. Montague, Robert M. Friedmand, Prashant J. Desai, Sanjay Vashee/ Genome-wide engineering of an infectious clone of herpes simplex virus type 1 using synthetic genomics assembly methodsPNAS, 2017 Aug 25.
  • Krishnakumar R, Grose C, Haft DH, Zaveri J, Alperovich N, Gibson DG, Merryman C, Glass J./ Simultaneous Non-contiguous Deletions Using Large Synthetic DNA and Site-specific RecombinasesNucleic Acids Research. 2014 Jun 09.
  • P. R. Dormitzer, P. Suphaphiphat, D. G. Gibson, D. E. Wentworth, T. B. Stockwell, M. A. Algire,  N.Alperovich, M. Barro, D. M. Brown, S. Craig, B. M. Dattilo, E. A. Denisova, I. D. Souza, M. Eickmann, V. G. Dugan, A. Ferrari, R. C. Gomila, L. Han, C. Judge, S. Mane, M. Matrosovich, C. Merryman, G. Palladino, G. A. Palmer, T. Spencer, T. Strecker, H. Trusheim, J. Uhlendorff, Y. Wen, A. C. Yee, J. Zaveri, B. Zhou, S. Becker, A. Donabedian, P. W. Mason, J. I. Glass, R. Rappuoli, J. C. Venter/ Synthetic Generation of Influenza Vaccine Viruses for Rapid Response to PandemicsSci. Transl. Med. 5, 2013.
  • Benders, G.A., V.N. Noskov, E.A. Denisova, C. Lartigue, D.G. Gibson, N. Assad-Garcia, R.Y. Chuang, W. Carrera, M. Moodie, M.A. Algire, Q. Phan, N. Alperovich, S. Vashee, C. Merryman, J.C. Venter, H.O. Smith, J.I. Glass, and C.A. Hutchison, 3rd/ Cloning whole bacterial genomes in yeastNucleic Acids Res, 2010.
  • Lartigue, C., S. Vashee, M.A. Algire, R.Y. Chuang, G.A. Benders, L. Ma, V.N. Noskov, E.A. Denisova, D.G. Gibson, N. Assad-Garcia, N. Alperovich, D.W. Thomas, C. Merryman, C.A. Hutchison, 3rd, H.O. Smith, J.C. Venter, and J.I. Glass/ Creating bacterial strains from genomes that have been cloned and engineered in yeastScience, 2009.
  • Lartigue, C., J.I. Glass, N. Alperovich, R. Pieper, P.P. Parmar, C.A. Hutchison, 3rd, H.O. Smith, and J.C. Venter /Genome transplantation in bacteria: changing one species to anotherScience, 2007.
  • Glass, J.I., N. Assad-Garcia, N. Alperovich, S. Yooseph, M.R. Lewis, M. Maruf, C.A. Hutchison, 3rd, H.O. Smith, and J.C. Venter/ Essential genes of a minimal bacteriumProc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2006.

 

Awards

2022 MML Accolades: Service and Support to MML For outstanding technical support in developing and implementing laboratory automation protocols that resulted in a continued, high level of experimental achievement through the Covid pandemic.

Publications

The allosteric landscape of the lac repressor

Author(s)
Drew S. Tack, Peter Tonner, Abe Pressman, Nathanael David Olson, Eugenia Romantseva, Nina Alperovich, Olga Vasilyeva, David J. Ross, Sasha F. Levy
Allostery is a fundamental biophysical mechanism where the activity of a biomolecule is regulated by the binding of a ligand. Despite playing a central role in

Single-cell measurement of plasmid copy number and promoter activity

Author(s)
Bin Shao, Jayan Rammohan, Daniel Anderson, Nina Alperovich, David J. Ross, Christopher Voigt
We have developed a method to simultaneously count plasmid DNA, RNA transcripts, and protein expression in single living bacteria. From these data, the activity
Created October 2, 2019, Updated January 2, 2024