Have you Met
Amanda Darby
Research Associate, Aferna Bio
Describe your journey to 39 North.
My family grew up in Jefferson County and Southern Missouri. I am the first generation of my family to attend college and I have worked in the startup industry since graduating from Truman State University in 2017.
When I was in high school I toured the Danforth Center as part of a job shadowing project, and while I was stolen for a while to work in medical diagnostic development, I'm very happy to have been pulled towards agriculture research.
I studied epigenetics in college through an anthropological lens and as it relates to mental health, trauma, and other types of stress, and am happy to find myself working along similar lines in agriculture.
I am grateful to work in an environment with goals towards something I feel connected to, surrounded by a community of kind and supportive people.
What are you excited to be working on right now?
I am currently working at Aferna Bio, which is located in the Helix Center in 39 North.
Aferna is a plant biotech company that launched in 2022 and aims to gain better understanding of how and when RNA is translated to proteins and how that results in increased plant yield, improved stress tolerance and gains in carbon sequestration. We are looking at this through RNA modifications or "epitranscriptomics".
Working in startups, I like getting to try out a little bit of everything from molecular work and tissue culture to plant phenotyping. I enjoy the day-to-day activities of my work and the mission of the company. I appreciate working in an environment filled with passionate people, surrounded by even more companies fueled by a mission to create something that will make things a little bit better.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Right now, I am enjoying guiding yoga at the Helix Center and taking classes in the healing arts. Learning and exploring new ways of what progress can be and what progress can look like holistically.
My current obsession is around polyvagal theory and the nervous system and how this relates to building communities around a shared felt sense of safety and belonging.
I find enjoyment in staying active in ocean and coral conservation efforts when I can, training in freediving, writing music and performing, giving guitar lessons, and finding comfort and joy in the small things like watching TV with family, game nights with friends and sweet interactions with strangers.
