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Ohmic Biosciences

Genetically engineering plants for disease resistance.

Y CombinatorSummer 2023ActiveIndustrialsAgricultureSynthetic BiologyBiotechClimateAgriculture

What they do

Problem

Crop pests and pathogens cause major agricultural losses and existing controls like agrochemicals are increasingly ineffective due to evolving resistance.

Solution

Ohmic Biosciences uses protein engineering to design and introduce robust disease-resistance genes into crops that remain effective as pathogens evolve.

Who it's for

Crop seed companies and commercial growers who need disease-resistant crop varieties.

Founders

PJ Steiner
Founder

I'm a protein engineer, synthetic biologist, and computer scientist. I studied computer science at MIT (SB/MEng) and then synthetic biology at Cambridge (PhD) and UCSD (postdoc). After two years as a scientist at Bolt Threads engineering yeast for protein production, I moved to the University of Colorado Boulder to work on a DARPA project using protein engineering to turn plants into chemical biosensors. My co-founder Matt and I founded Ohmic to make plants resistant to disease.

Matthew Bedewitz
Founder

I'm a plant biochemist with experience in protein engineering, genetics and analytical chemistry. I studied Horticulture Science (BS), and then Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology (PhD) at Michigan State where I characterized enzymes in tropane alkaloid production for nerve agent antidotes and stimulants (including cocaine). That work led me to a DARPA protein engineering project where I met my cofounder, PJ, and we decided to use our skills to tackle crop disease resistance.

Company timeline

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