Jacob Downs completed his PhD at the University of Sydney studying developmental mutations in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana under A/Prof. Brian Jones. Jacob has an interest in the auxin response pathway and how plant cells coordinate development. During his PhD, he found an albino phenotype in an auxin response factor (ARF) mutant background that was found to be caused by the loss-of-function of a pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein (At1g73710). Jacob is currently a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney working on multiple projects including CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing of Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato), and characterising pathogen resistance in myrtaceae species and Theobroma cacao (Cocoa).