CRISPR & Gene Editing Subject Matter Expert (PhD / Masters)

What you'll do

You review AI-written answers to CRISPR and gene editing questions and judge them as a bench scientist would. Two things are being checked: whether the science is right, and whether the model handles sensitive biology responsibly. Where an answer misdescribes a technique, or drifts into territory that counts as a biosecurity concern, you flag it and write down why.

Every evaluation decision comes with a written rationale, so the deliverable is your reasoning as much as a verdict. The ad describes a defined set of annotation tasks to finish inside a single project week, at roughly 10 to 20 hours.

This is safety evaluation work. The ad asks for familiarity with dual-use research of concern (DURC) and biosecurity as a plus, because the judgment call is knowing where legitimate gene editing discussion ends and risky specificity begins.

Who fits

• Currently enrolled in, or finished with, a PhD (year 2 or later) or a Master's in molecular biology, cell biology, synthetic biology, computational biology, bioengineering, genetics, microbiology, virology or biomedical engineering
• At least 2 years of hands-on CRISPR or gene editing bench experience
• Working proficiency with CRISPR/Cas systems (Cas9, Cas12, Cas13), gRNA design tools such as Benchling, CRISPick and CHOPCHOP, and cell line work
• Experience with off-target analysis methods such as CIRCLE-seq or GUIDE-seq

Preferred: disease or therapeutic CRISPR research, base editing, prime editing or gene drives, DURC or biosafety policy familiarity, BSL-2+ lab experience, Python or R for bioinformatics, and a background at gene editing therapeutics companies or biosecurity organisations.

What it pays

The board headlines $100/hr, and that is the figure recorded here. The ad itself pays differently: a flat fee of $1,000 to $1,200 for about one week of work, with up to $1,500 for exceptional candidates. At 10 to 20 hours that fee works out near the board figure at the lower end of the hours and below it at the top, so treat the flat fee as the real number. The ad does not publish its payment terms; see the company page for how AfterQuery pays.

Worth knowing

Good:

• A short, clearly bounded engagement with no long-term obligation
• Work that uses specialist bench knowledge, not generic annotation skills
• Directly relevant to AI safety in a high-stakes biological domain
• A flat fee, so a fast reviewer is not penalised

Less good:

• The project is about a week long; the ad does not say what follows
• Assignment is project by project, so being accepted does not guarantee work
• The bar is high: two years of bench CRISPR experience plus a PhD year 2 or Masters
• The ad asks for no application details beyond the standard form, and says nothing about an assessment; AfterQuery's help centre describes an unpaid, one-attempt assessment and ID verification for its expert pools

About this listing

Read from the AfterQuery Experts board on 18 October 2026. The role is listed in AfterQuery's STEM department and was posted on 2 June 2026. See AfterQuery.