2Blades’ dual market strategy: Solutions for Asian soybean rust

Diana Horvath has helped to translate advances in plant science into practical uses for agriculture.  In 2003, she co-founded 2Blades, 

a novel, non-profit, agbiotech company that develops and delivers disease- and pest-resilient crops and currently serves as its President.  Prior to 2Blades, she served as Science Director at ATP Capital, a venture firm that invested in companies developing biotechnologies that improved agriculture. Diana trained in plant disease resistance as a National Science Foundation and Zeneca Plant Science postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University, following her Ph.D. in molecular biology at Northwestern University. She conducted pest and disease research on maize and millet at Botswana’s Department of Agricultural Research.

Kamil Witek

Kamil joined the 2Blades Group in The Sainsbury Laboratory in 2019, and in March 2023 was promoted to Group Leader. As a team leader, Kamil focused on using natural plant diversity and state-of-the-art technologies to develop durable genetic resistance to Asian Soybean Rust and devastating corn diseases in collaboration with industry. Currently, the group 

he leads is aiming at delivering ASR resistant soybean for smallholders in Africa. Before joining the 2Blades group, Kamil spent nine years as a post-doctoral researcher in Prof. Jonathan Jones’ group at The Sainsbury Laboratory, where he created germplasm collections and developed novel techniques to clone a variety of functional plant immune receptors. Kamil was awarded his PhD by Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics PAS in Poland, where he studied interactions between potato and major viral pathogens.