Kasturi Dasgupta is a highly accomplished biochemist with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. She has over 8 years of experience working in various roles in the biotechnology and food industry. After completing her Ph.D., Kasturi joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS) in Albany, CA as a Scientist. In this role, she conducted research on agricultural biotechnology and contributed to the development of bioengineered crop development. Following her work at USDA-ARS, Kasturi joined Lonza as a Scientific Manager for R&D in Consumer Health and Nutrition. Here, she was responsible for leading a team of scientists and overseeing research and development projects related to nutritional supplements and consumer health products. Kasturi then moved on to work as a Senior Manager at Impossible Foods, a leading plant-based meat company. In this role, she played a crucial part in the development and launch of new plant-based products and oversaw the company's research and development efforts. In addition to her work in the industry, Kasturi is also a mentor at PlugandPlay Venture Capital, where she advises and supports early-stage startups in the biotech and food industry. She is also a co-founder and advisor at Phenova Bio, a biotechnology company focused on developing novel bioengineering solutions to accelerate plant breeding. With her extensive education and experience, Kasturi has become a respected figure in the life science field and continues to make significant contributions to the industry through her work.

Kasturi Dasgupta

Results-oriented life science leader with a PhD in Biochemistry and 10+ years of diverse experience in strategic R&D, project management, networking and consulting.

Research Expertise

Biotechnology

Plant molecular biology

Biochemistry

About

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Publications

Accurate measurement of transgene copy number in crop plants using droplet digital PCR

The Plant Journal

2017

Expression of Sucrose Transporter cDNAs Specifically in Companion Cells Enhances Phloem Loading and Long-Distance Transport of Sucrose but Leads to an Inhibition of Growth and the Perception of a Phosphate Limitation

Plant Physiology

2014

Arabidopsis plants harbouring a mutation in AtSUC2, encoding the predominant sucrose/proton symporter necessary for efficient phloem transport, are able to complete their life cycle and produce viable seed

Annals of Botany

2009

Novel R2R3-MYB transcription factors fromPrunus americanaregulate differential patterns of anthocyanin accumulation in tobacco and citrus

GM Crops & Food

2017

A cytochrome P450 monooxygenase commonly used for negative selection in transgenic plants causes growth anomalies by disrupting brassinosteroid signaling

BMC Plant Biology

2011

Tissue-specific expression of Ruby in Mexican lime (C. aurantifolia) confers anthocyanin accumulation in fruit

Frontiers in Plant Science

2022

Isolation of novel citrus and plum fruit promoters and their functional characterization for fruit biotechnology

BMC Biotechnology

2020

Effect of thermal treatment on carotenoids, flavonoids and ascorbic acid in juice of orange cv. Cara Cara

Food Chemistry

2018

Cloning and Characterization of a Novel cDNA Encoding Late Embryogenesis-Abundant Protein 5 Like (LEA-5) Gene from Cara Cara Navel Orange Fruit (Citrus sinensis Osbeck)

Agricultural Sciences in China

2006

2014 World Forum on Biology – Joint Meeting of the Society for In Vitro Biology and the Society for Cryobiology, May 31 - June 4, Savannah, Georgia

In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Animal

2014

Education

University of North Texas

Ph.D., Biochemistry / August, 2013

Denton, Texas, United States of America

Experience

U.S Dept of Agriculture- Agricultural Research services (USDA-ARS), Albany, CA (2013-2018)

Scientist / 2013 — 2018

Oversaw various technology transfer programs run by CRB, a trade organization and played a central role in submission of APHIS deregulation of new bioengineered citrus cultivars with enhanced nutrition. Participated in the Innovation-Corps program, to get trained on a set of activities for product commercialization and customer discovery. Worked on developing new genetically modified cultivars with improved fruit quality, nutrition and traits- worked on tomato, soybean, tobacco and citrus for proof of concepts prototypes. Identified new citrus genetic elements using bioinformatics. Accomplishment- IP generation and field trial; the new citrus varieties with enhanced anthocyanin in the fruits (purple limes) are in field-testing. (https://patents.google.com/patent/US20190359995A1/en)

Lonza

Scientific Manager (R&D), Consumer health and nutrition / 2018 — 2019

Spearheaded the development of innovative, sustainable vegan ingredients using genetically engineered yeast strains through strategic partnerships and cross-functional teams. Managed project plans for clinical trials, ensuring adherence to timelines, budget constraints, IP development, data analysis and regulatory compliance. Accomplishment- Developed concept prototypes for clinical trials of ingredients such as UC-II (collagen), carnitine, carnipure etc through collaboration with formulation development team and external CROs. Provided technical support to marketing and sales teams, including developing sales materials and presenting technical data to customers. Developed and nurtured scientific relationships with third party key opinion leaders (KOLs) in industry, government and academia through technical conferences.

Impossible Foods

Senior Manager / 2019 — 2024

Led cross-functional teams operation of 10+ scientists and engineers to develop prototypes for over 100 sustainable plant-based meat and dairy analog formulations, achieving aggressive timelines and budgets (reduced development time by 6-9 months through leading a rapid prototyping team) Utilized stage-gate process to ensure efficient project progression. Developed workflows for competitive analysis of market products and map out the landscape Collaborated with external partners for assessing ingredients/technology in internal product development Presented strategic R&D recommendations to Executive Leadership Teams at Impossible Foods, influencing decisions leading to product roadmap decisions. Strategic thinking and planning: Influenced 3 year product roadmap decisions by considering consumer trends, market needs, and technical feasibility for sustainable plant based food product development.

PlugandPlay Venture capital

Mentor / 2024 — Present

Advice and guide startups in Ag/Food Biotech space on technology translation and scale from R&D to commercialization Guide on IP development strategy Advising C-level executives on strategic collaboration and partnerships

Phenova Bio

Cofounder and Advisor / 2024 — Present

Advising C-level executives on technical competitive landscape and technology translation applicable for the commercialization of Phenova’s genetic engineering platform. Supporting business development activities through customer discovery initiatives Providing inputs on development of investor pitch deck and connecting with VC firms.

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