Protein Engineer

Our team wants to contract your company to re-engineer a Cas 9 protein to release a repressor on a virus gene once the gRNA binds with the host DNA. The modified Cas 9 protein (if you think that a different protein, like Cas 12, would be easier to work with and more effective, then that is your decision) should find a gene that matches with its gRNA. The modified Cas 9 then creates a chain reaction, instead of cutting the host DNA, that removes a repressor on the virus gene. We’d prefer a direct connection between the modified Cas 9 and the virus repressor (perhaps some sort of tether that will increase the likelihood of viral replication). If the gRNA doesn’t match, the repressor must not be removed. Doxycycline may be a good chemical to release the repressor, similar to lactose removing the lac operon, but I’m not sure if human cells will be able to produce it well, so your decision on a different chemical can change things. Our whole product is a human virus, so this modified protein with Cas 9 and doxycycline (both of which can be changed so long as they achieve the aims of the project) should be able to be replicated in human cells. We’d prefer this protein to be producible in all or most human cells.
The project aim is to make a protein that will activate viral reproduction if a specific gene is detected, but not to activate viral reproduction if the gene is not in the cell.
This is our first time asking contractors for help with product development, so please let us know what steps we need to take to get research underway. Please give us an estimate of what our costs will be and how we should keep in contact.