Avantika Linguini

I build data systems and ship software.

Skills.

Work experience.

Projects.

apps.apple.com/app/avatar

iOS App · 2024

Avatar: AI-Created Characters ↗

An iOS app I built solo and shipped to the Apple App Store. Turns multi-step user prompts into AI-generated character art via DALL-E 3. Across iOS, iPadOS, macOS Apple Silicon, and visionOS.

SwiftSwiftUIDALL-E 3Unity Ads

avantika.linguini · this site

Web · 2026

This Portfolio

Built from scratch in vanilla HTML, CSS, and JS. The sky shifts from sunrise to sunset as you scroll; clouds drift with silver linings; stars come out at twilight. Plus a carousel mode for quick browsing.

HTMLCSSVanilla JSSVGrequestAnimationFrame

Wet science lab.

A year of CRISPR knockouts, mRNA synthesis, MAPK westerns, and an honours thesis. Click to expand the full lab notebook.

9 projects Open the lab notebook ▾

BIOL 4290 · Lab 2 · S. cerevisiae

CRISPR-Cas9
ADE2 Knockout

Wet Lab · 2026

CRISPR-Cas9 ADE2 Knockout

Built the pML104-ADE2 plasmid by annealing custom sgRNA oligos into the BclI/SwaI cloning site. Amplified in E. coli, then transformed into yeast where Cas9 cut the ADE2 gene and HDR with a donor template introduced a premature stop codon. Read out as red colonies on SC/-URA plates.

CRISPR-Cas9sgRNA designHDRYeast transformationpML104

BIOL 4290 · Lab 4 · BL21

SARS-CoV-2
Spike mRNA

Wet Lab · 2026

In Vitro Synthesis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike mRNA

Expressed His6-tagged T7 RNA polymerase in E. coli BL21 with IPTG induction, purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography (Bradford-quantified), linearized a pTwist-SARS-CoV-2-spike plasmid with EcoRI-HF, and ran in vitro transcription to generate spike protein mRNA.

T7 RNA polymeraseNi-NTAIPTG inductionIn vitro transcriptionEcoRI-HF

BIOL 4290 · Lab 3 · rat L6 cells

Wet Lab · 2026

MAP Kinase Immunoprecipitation + Western Blot

Cultured rat L6 skeletal muscle cells in a Class II biosafety cabinet, stimulated with insulin, immunoprecipitated MAP kinase, ran SDS-PAGE + PVDF transfer, probed with anti-phospho-MAPK, and detected by ECL chemiluminescence.

Mammalian cell cultureIPSDS-PAGEPVDFanti-phospho-MAPKECL

BIOL 4290 · Lab 1 · N. benthamiana

Wet Lab · 2026

Agrobacterium-Mediated Transient Expression

Transformed Nicotiana benthamiana via Agrobacterium to transiently express the RUBY reporter (turns leaves red via betalain biosynthesis), then detected PAP gene expression in transgenic tobacco by RNA isolation, reverse transcription, RT-PCR, and agarose gel electrophoresis.

Agrobacterium transformationRUBY reporterRNA isolationRT-PCRAgarose gel

BIOL 3140 · Project 4 · B. licheniformis

α-Amylase
Cloning

Wet Lab · 2026

α-Amylase Cloning from B. licheniformis

End-to-end cloning: extracted genomic DNA from B. licheniformis, PCR-amplified the α-amylase gene, double-digested into the pET15 vector, ligated, transformed E. coli, screened by colony PCR, then ran α-amylase enzyme activity assays on the recombinants.

gDNA isolationPCR cloningRestriction digestLigationColony PCREnzyme activity

BIOL 3140 · Project 3 · pAMY8

Restriction
Mapping

Wet Lab · 2026

Restriction Mapping of pAMY8

Set up restriction digests of the α-amylase-containing plasmid pAMY8 with single and double enzyme combinations, resolved fragments on agarose gels, and reconstructed the full restriction map from band sizes.

Restriction enzymesAgarose gelFragment analysisPlasmid mapping

BIOL 3140 · Project 2 · SDS-PAGE

SDS-PAGE +
Western Blot

Wet Lab · 2026

Protein Analysis Module

Prepared protein samples for SDS-PAGE, cast two polyacrylamide gels, ran the gels, stained one with Coomassie Blue for total protein, and used the second for overnight Western blot transfer + chemiluminescent detection.

SDS-PAGE castingCoomassie stainWestern blot transferChemiluminescent detection

BIOL 4000 · Honours Thesis

Mutual Gaze
Research Pipeline

Research · 2026

Mutual Gaze Pipeline (Honours Thesis)

"Seeking or Avoiding Mutual Gaze: Quantifying Gaze Coordination Across Communication Media." Ran eye-tracking on 50+ participants across face-to-face, window, and Zoom conditions. Designed the MySQL schema, Python/R ETL, and statistical analysis end-to-end.

Eye-trackingPythonR / RStudioMySQLMonte CarloKaplan-Meier

BIOL 4290 · Synth Bio Presentation

Tyrian Purple
Metabolic Engineering

Paper Talk · 2026

Tyrian Purple Biosynthesis

Presented Li et al. (2024, Metabolic Engineering) on one-pot biosynthesis of Tyrian purple in E. coli using a flavin-dependent halogenase (SttH-Fre fusion) + a two-component monooxygenase (GS-C/GS-D). Walked through the selectivity problem with TnaA and the engineered solution.

Synthetic biologyMetabolic engineeringHalogenase chemistryE. coli

// bench toolkit

At the bench.

techniques

CRISPR-Cas9sgRNA designHDR templatesYeast transformationCell cultureClass II biosafetyWestern blotImmunoprecipitationSDS-PAGECoomassie stainingECL detectionBL21 / IPTGNi-NTA chromatographyBradford assayPCR / RT-PCRRestriction mappingMolecular cloningPlasmid prepIn vitro transcriptionAgrobacteriumgDNA isolationAseptic techniqueMicrobial IDcGMP / GMPFDA readinessSAP iShiftQualipso eQMS

writing

Lab reports (15+ in 2026)Honours Thesis (BIOL 4000)Research proposalMethods writingStatistical resultsFigures & tablesPaper presentationsLaTeXScientific citation

concepts

DNA replicationTranscription & RNAGene regulationEnzyme kineticsMetabolismPopulation geneticsCell signalingCell cycleAntibody / MHCVaccine biologyViral life cyclesBacterial growthEmbryonic developmentStem cellsGene therapySynthetic biologyMetabolic engineeringBioremediationGMOsOrganic mechanismsIR / NMR / MSHPLC / GCStereochemistry

bio + data

BLASTSequence alignmentLinux / BashR / RStudioPython (Biopython)PhylogeneticsStatistical geneticsEye-tracking pipelinesMonte CarloKaplan-MeierMixed-effects modelsANOVA

I float between.

biotechnology·molecular biology·CRISPR / genetic engineering·synthetic biology·immunology·cell biology·bioinformatics·vision research·cGMP & regulated data·data engineering·AI & ML·full-stack web·iOS development·statistical modeling·content & design·photography.

Reach out.

I'm in Toronto, graduating April 2026. If you're working at the intersection of biology and software — building consumer products with science behind them, growing an AI startup, or just running a wet lab that needs better tools — I want to hear from you. Especially if you're hiring a new grad, or you're a student figuring out what to build next.