Aric Wiest is a seasoned leader and senior scientist with over 20 years of experience in biotechnology and academia, specializing in fungal molecular biology, genetics, and platform development. He is known for creating innovative technology platforms that streamline natural product discovery and microbial screening for biotech applications, significantly reducing timelines and improving efficiency.

As Head of Mycology at LifeMine Therapeutics, Aric led several teams, including Fungal Engineering, Fermentation, Sequencing and Transcriptomics, Fungal Strain Collection, and Media teams. He improved fungal engineering and screening processes, achieving groundbreaking efficiency gains in discovery pipelines. At Indigo Agriculture, he spearheaded the development of high-throughput microbial and plant assay systems, delivering actionable insights that informed product innovation.

During his tenure at the Fungal Genetics Stock Center, Aric contributed to sequencing hundreds classical mutants to identify the genes involved and arrayed thousands of gene knockouts for distribution to the fungal research community. His work in developing tools and resources for fungal research has had a lasting impact on the field.

Aric’s career reflects a commitment to scientific innovation, collaboration, and driving impactful solutions across industries. His expertise in platform development, genetic engineering, and screening continues to influence advancements in fungal biotechnology.