Engineering better crops for a changing world.
About Us
We are building the platform that makes plant genetic engineering faster, more accessible, and applicable to the crops that need it most.
Our work sits at the intersection of plant biology, automation, and precision engineering — with a focus on species and applications where existing approaches fall short.
We are heads down and not yet public. If you are interested in working together please reach out!
Our Mission
Our Vision
At MeristemIQ, our mission is to harness the power of plant biotechnology to accelerate crop improvement for future climates. We believe critical changes to the way crop genetic transformation is performed are needed to scale the biotechnology revolution and we are focused on delivering that change. We aim to deliver cutting-edge solutions that drive innovation in crop biotech and enhance operational capabilities for breeding higher yielding plants with increased nutritional quality.
Our Values
We prioritize innovation, customer-centricity, and integrity in all our endeavors. We believe the future of our world depends on supporting plant biology because plants are vital to environment and human health. Our commitment to excellence motivates us to create impactful solutions that not only advance technology but also contribute positively to future food security.
Our Team
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Tamara Miller, PhD
Co-founder and CEO
Cyrus Modavi, PhD
Co-founder and CTO
Jutta Dalton, PhD
Advisor, Cell Biology Lead
Tamara is a plant biotechnologist with experience leading projects spanning quantitative genetics and genetic engineering for crop improvement. She completed her doctorate in Agronomy and Plant Breeding at UC Davis. Her current work focuses on genome engineering of sorghum for increased abiotic stress tolerance.
Cyrus's work focuses on the application of microfluidics to synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and photosynthetic organism development. His published work includes the automation of droplet microfluidics with commercial fluid-handling robotics, integrating droplet generators, mergers, and sorters with robotic thermal control and plate scanning capabilities. He completed his doctoral training in the UC Berkeley–UCSF Graduate Program in Bioengineering.
Jutta's work focuses on sorghum as a bioenergy feedstock. Her research examines how drought stress, genotype, and agronomic management interact to affect sorghum yield, biomass composition, and downstream biorefinery performance. She brings expertise in plant physiology, field research, and regulatory compliance for transgenic plant materials under USDA APHIS. She completed her doctoral training at Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany.
Leah Taylor Kearney, PhD
Advisor, Protein Engineering Lead
Leah is a biochemist and enzymologist who currently studies Rubisco kinetics and engineering. She completed her doctorate at the University of Oxford studying oxygen-sensing enzymes in human and plant systems. Her expertise spans enzyme evolution, assay development and kinetics. Her current research includes large library characterisation and the development of novel enzyme engineering approaches with direct relevance to improving photosynthetic efficiency in crop species