Scientist, Fungal Biology

Our company:

Conagen Inc. is a leader in cutting-edge bio-manufacturing. We engineer organisms to produce high-value molecules that are essential to our well-being. Our focus is on food, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, and renewable materials. We employ the latest synthetic biology tools to design metabolic pathways and produce safe and high-quality products. Science and innovation are the driving forces of our mission. We believe in a green future.

Job Description Overview:

We are currently seeking a Senior scientist to support projects related to engineering of microbial (fungal) hosts for metabolite and protein production. The candidate must have experience working with fungal systems. A background in molecular biology, biochemistry, metabolic engineering and other related disciplines is expected. Strong technical, organizational, and communication skills, as well as the ability to develop creative solutions to challenging problems, are essential.

Responsibility:

• Routinely perform molecular biology techniques such as primer design, PCR, DNA and RNA extraction, DNA mutagenesis, DNA cloning, plasmid mini-prep, DNA and protein sequence analysis, cell transformation, cell culture, and other more advanced molecular biology techniques in support of research projects.
• Perform experiments for enzymatic activity testing including heterologous protein expression, recombinant protein purification, and analysis of expressed proteins by SDS-PAGE, Western Blot and in vitro/in vivo enzymatic assays.
• Strain engineering to optimize production of desired compounds and proteins.
• Optimize cultivation conditions and assays for screening of strains.
• Work collaboratively with other team members to accomplish project goals and milestones.
• Routinely track and document results in laboratory notebooks and databases.
• Analyze, summarize, and present experimental results to team leader and other team members.

Qualifications:

• PhD degree in microbiology, molecular biology, metabolic engineering, biochemistry, or other related fields.
• Strong background in microbiology (mycology), molecular biology, protein purification, metabolic engineering, genetics, and synthetic biology with experience in recombinant DNA technologies, cell transformation, enzymatic assays, and protein purification.
• Experience engineering fungal hosts is highly preferred.
• Familiarity operating laboratory and experimental equipment such as biosafety cabinets, centrifuges, spectrophotometers, FPLC, HPLC, LC/MS and GC/MS.
• Familiarity with diverse software packages for data processing and statistical analysis, primer design and sequence blasting and alignment.
• Must be highly motivated and able to work independently while also possessing exceptional communication and teamwork skills.

Experience:

2+ years relevant experience

Equal Employment Opportunity

Conagen is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate our employees' differences, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.