Matt DiLeo
Vice President, Research & Development Elo Life Systems
Matt DiLeo tackles big, audacious problems through the power of science and genetics in the agriculture and biotech industries. At Elo Life Systems, he leads the R&D teams responsible for the creation of new sweetener ingredients through molecular farming as well as the generation of diverse edited crop products. Previously, he led teams responsible for candidate gene and microbe discovery, characterization and development at Novozymes and KeyGene. Throughout his career, Matt has strived to pull the future forward through the application of technologies that are just barely ready for product development.
Seminars
Tuesday 24th March 2026
Gene Editing: From Concept to Product in Underutilized Crops
8:30 am
- Specific gene editing projects in banana (TR4 disease resistance), cowpea, cassava and other crops
- Technical strategy/challenges/solutions (e.g. value of protoplasts, new focus on regeneration, potential, and value of targeted DNA insertion, plant cell-based assays for design-build-test acceleration)
- Product concepts and startup execution approaches that make commercial sense (e.g. you need high-quality germplasm, you need a crop/trait target with real economic value, CRO/platform route is questionable, etc.)
