Gene Editing Production Associate

Ohalo•South San Francisco, CA

2d•$70,000 - $83,000

About The Position

Ohalo™ is seeking a motivated Gene Editing Production Associate who will contribute to the advancement of plant variety development by working on the gene editing production team. The successful candidate will be creative and passionate about discovery, pushing science forward. Furthermore, the successful candidate will be well-organized, detail-oriented, and work independently as well as in a team environment. The candidate will spend approximately 90% of their time on plant tissue culture and regeneration and 10% on data management and analysis. The candidate will complete a 3–6 month training period in Aptos, CA before transitioning to our South San Francisco office.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Microbiology, Plant Science, or related field with 0-3 years of experience
Ability to accurately follow verbal and written instructions as well as make suggestions to optimize methodologies
Ability to ask clarifying questions, articulate challenges, and suggest solutions
Ability to sit for extended periods of time and do repetitive motions
Ability to take a proactive approach to routine tasks
Must be passionate about learning and enthusiastic about plants and hands-on work
Must have a positive attitude and good interpersonal skills

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of plant science, plant breeding, and molecular biology
Experience working in a lab including sterile technique, micropropagation, media preparation, microscopy, and DNA extraction
Proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Powerpoint and Word) OR Google Suite (Mail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drive)

Responsibilities

Protoplast Isolation, Transfection, and Culture:
Monitor plant conditions and growth.
Perform enzymatic digestion of plant tissues (e.g., leaf, root, or callus) to isolate viable protoplasts.
Transfect protoplasts using PEG-mediated transfection or electroporation methods.
Culture transfected protoplasts to regenerate callus.
Contribute to the continuous improvement and documentation of standard operating procedures for protoplast workflows.
Microscopy and Imaging:
Assess protoplast yield, viability, and cell health using fluorescence and confocal microscopy and viability dyes (e.g., FDA staining).
Data Recording and Analysis:
Maintain organized, accurate, and detailed records of plant inventory, media preparation, and production experiments in electronic lab notebooks (ELN).
Compile and analyze data using tools such as ImageJ, GraphPad Prism, Excel, Google Sheets, or R.
Sample Preparation:
Prepare samples for downstream molecular analyses, including DNA and RNA extraction.
Cross-Functional Support and Collaboration:
Collaborate with other Technicians, Research Associates, and Scientists on workflows, ensuring that critical processes are completed.