Full-Time
Research Associate 3
Pathology
Posted on 9/16/2025
Ohalo
51-200 employees
Seed-based accelerated crop breeding platform
Compensation Overview
$95k - $110k/yr
No H1B Sponsorship
Aptos, CA, USA
In Person
 Biology & Biotech (2) |
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- Masters degree in plant pathology with experience evaluating disease symptomology in a variety of settings
- 3+ years experience in a pathology-focused role with diagnostic experience
- Experience with aseptic and molecular biology techniques
- Ability to effectively communicate phytosanitary practices in field, greenhouse, and laboratory settings to broad audiences
- Meticulous approach to planning with failsafes to prevent pitfalls
- Must be detail-oriented, well-organized, and good at record keeping
- Positive attitude and good interpersonal skills
- Enthusiastic about plant pathology with a desire to innovate
- Ability to work creatively in a dynamic, data driven start-up environment
- Acts as the pathology resource for the potato, strawberry, and other crop breeding programs
- Works closely with crop breeders and TC team to quarantine incoming material germplasm and ensure plant material is free of diseases before entering Ohalo’s breeding program
- Conducts routine scouting of plant material in the greenhouse and field
- Works closely with the greenhouse team to monitor pest pressure and conducts diagnostic assays as needed
- Proactively communicates with breeders and technical program managers to plan testing and certification of material being sent to collaborators
- Conducts diagnostic assays including culturing of plant pathogens and identification via morphological characteristics, ELISA, PCR and RT-PCR
- Communicates diagnostic results to technical program managers and breeders, compiles diagnostic reports for managers and collaborators
- Keeps accurate records of diagnostic testing
- Manages the pathology laboratory, including maintaining laboratory equipment, keeping inventory of supplies and reagents, and enforcing sanitation measures
- Conducts routine HPLC analysis
- Stays up-to-date on phytosanitary requirements for the movement of plant material between facilities and collaborators’ operations
- Works with breeders and breeding research associates to organize, execute, and analyze data from disease phenotyping experiments
- Works with greenhouse management, breeders, and breeding research associates to organize, execute, and analyze other breeding greenhouse tasks as needed
- Presents research outcomes to peers and leadership
- Familiarity with microbial community sequencing methods and interpretation
- Experience conducting disease resistance phenotyping assays in the growth chamber, greenhouse, and/or field and using statistical analysis to drive decisions
Ohalo Genetics develops seeds using Boosted Breeding, a method that makes plants pass on their entire genome to offspring, enabling asexual reproduction through seeds. How it works: by altering the reproductive process, the offspring are genetically identical to the parent, producing true seeds that carry the full parent genome. This allows rapid development of new crop varieties with desirable traits, shortening breeding cycles from about 10–12 years to only a few years. What sets it apart: it targets a wide range of crops (potatoes, corn, berries) and collaborates with other agricultural companies to develop and commercialize new varieties, focusing on predictable, genotype-stable outcomes. What the company aims to achieve: increase crop productivity and resilience to changing environmental conditions, helping improve the food supply chain by delivering better-yielding, more reliable crops.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Late Stage VC
Total Funding
$100M
Headquarters
Seacliff, California
Founded
2019
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Early trials show 50-100%+ yield gains in potatoes, corn, berries.
- UF/IFAS partnership develops neopestalotiopsis-resistant strawberries for 2025 trials.
- $100M funding since 2019 supports rapid commercialization across multiple crops.
What critics are saying
- EU GMO regulations block 30-40% global market access immediately.
- Bayer and Corteva deploy competing platforms within 18-36 months.
- Field yield collapses destroy trust in 12-24 months.
What makes Ohalo unique
- Boosted Breeding passes entire parental genomes to offspring via CRISPR meiosis suppression.
- Creates uniform true seeds for vegetatively propagated crops like potatoes.
- Shortens 10-12 year breeding cycles to few years with polyploid trait stacking.
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Benefits
Remote Work Options
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -5%1 year growth
↓ -1%2 year growth
↓ -1%APTOS, Calif., Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohalo Genetics, Inc. has entered into a groundbreaking Development & Commercialization Agreement with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc., and the Florida Strawberry Growers Association (FSGA) to address the significant threat of neopestalotiopsis to the strawberry industry.This fungal disease, which can wipe out entire strawberry fields, has become one of the most damaging issues faced by Florida strawberry growers, affecting crop yields, increasing production costs and threatening the livelihood of farmers in a state known as the "Winter Strawberry Capital of the United States".Neopestalotiopsis was first detected in Florida in 2017, with notable outbreaks in subsequent years. By 2019 and 2020, the disease had become widespread and severely damaged the crop across the state.Currently, there are no commercially available public strawberry varieties resistant to neopestalotiopsis. Growers have relied on fungicides and rigorous field management practices to mitigate the disease's effects, but these methods come with increased costs and limited effectiveness.In response to this challenge, Ohalo® leveraged its advanced breeding technology platform with genetic resources from UF/IFAS to develop a novel trait that makes a strawberry plant resistant to neopestalotiopsis and integrated that trait into existing University of Florida strawberry varieties. These new, resistant varieties will enter non-commercial, experimental trials in 2025."This collaboration showcases the power of public-private partnerships in solving critical agricultural challenges," said Jud Ward, CTO of Ohalo
Dave Friedberg, CEO of Ohalo, has unveiled a 'boosted breeding' technology that ensures offspring inherit all beneficial traits from both parent plants, potentially revolutionizing crop breeding. This method, which prevents the random splitting of genes, has shown to significantly increase yields. Ohalo, founded in 2019, has raised over $100 million in funding. Friedberg was inspired by Dr. Jud Ward's work at Driscoll’s and officially set up Ohalo in late summer 2019.
Vinod Khosla and Dave Friedberg struck a largely positive note on stage at the World Agri-Tech and Future Food-Tech conferences in San Francisco last week despite the ongoing funding winter.While AgFunder reported a 49.2% decline in agrifoodtech funding in 2023 and many startups face the abyss this year without a fresh influx of capital, money is always available for exceptional founders with disruptive products or technologies, insisted Dave Friedberg, CEO at investment group The Production Board (TPB) during a panel debate with Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla last Tuesday.“Exceptional founders have nothing to worry about,” said Friedberg. “But being a founder doesn’t give you the privilege of being able to raise money. And so that’s a fundamental truth that everyone’s going to get hit in the head with at some point. You can’t blame the market.”“That is so true,” agreed Khosla. “There are so many me-too kinds of startups. In fact, what I would argue is what the market has done is separated the really good startups from the not so good… Markets go up and down and you have to roll with the punches.”Vinod Khosla on cultivated meat: ‘We’ve probably looked at two dozen business plans, and not one made economic sense’Khosla, who highlighted his firm’s investments in Nitricity (on-farm nitrogen), Leaft (Rubisco protein), Impossible Foods (plant-based meat), Vertical Oceans (high-tech shrimp farming), Climate Corp (ag data), and Blue River (ag robotics) over the years, said: “I don’t think there are any areas I would say we’ve pulled back from
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