Mark is the Trait Development Director at Genus R&D located near Madison, Wisconsin where he directs research which uses gene editing to improve animal health and production in livestock.
Prior to joining Genus in 2016, Mark was at DuPont Pioneer in Des Moines, Iowa for 24 years focusing primarily on studying plant reproductive biology for the development of hybrid seed production. Later in his career, Mark led a Genome Modification group which developed gene editing methods for commercial applications in maize, sorghum, wheat and soybean.
Mark earned his doctorate in yeast genetics and molecular biology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois. As a National Research Council Fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, Mark studied the biochemistry of RNA regulation of protein synthesis in yeast.