Intern, Transformation

Intern, Transformation (Project Management) About Pairwise

Pairwise is agriculture's gene editing powerhouse, building a healthier world through partnership and plant innovation. Co-founded by CRISPR pioneers, the company's Fulcrum® Platform accelerates the development of climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops that are easier to grow and better to eat.

Founded in 2017 and based in Durham, North Carolina, Pairwise partners with global leaders and nonprofit institutions to help breeders move faster and transform food and agriculture for farmers, consumers, and the planet. The company collaborates with partners and licenses its Fulcrum® CRISPR tools to diversify breeding programs and bring innovations to market faster from developing the world's first pitless cherry to improving staple crops such as corn, soy, cacao, yam, and rice.

Backed by leading investors including Deerfield, Aliment Capital, Leaps by Bayer, Temasek, and Corteva Catalyst, Pairwise has raised $155 million in total funding. In 2025, the company was recognized as one of MIT Technology Review's 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch and named to Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in Agriculture, while also earning "Best Ag-Bio Company" honors in the Triangle Business Journal's Life Sciences Awards.

For more information, visit

We are seeking passionate, engaging, ready-to-learn interns to join us for Summer 2026. We are looking for interns with majors in:
Biology, Plant Science, Botany, Plant Biotechnology, or related areas. Pairwise offers the opportunity of getting to work with industry leading scientists and professionals in a cutting edge, industry changing, food+tech company.

Our interns will be integrated with our teams here at Pairwise to allow for hands on learning in a fast-paced start-up environment. Interns will also have season long cap-stone projects that will add real value and help the team resolve real-world challenges they are currently facing. We like to have fun at Pairwise, so the summer won't be all work and no play!

Pairwise interns will not only have "Intern Only" meeting sessions to talk about their experience and share thoughts and feedback with each other, but will also have events to help with career and educational planning, and team building trips to share in the fun of summer in North Carolina.

• Collaborate with the mentor and transformation team to test regeneration and transformation methods in consumer crops.
• Conduct, analyze, and interpret data from plant tissue culture and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation experiments.
• Prepare stock solutions and media for use in tissue culture and plant transformation experiments.
• Assist the team with the delivery of edited plants using a large-scale production process for caneberry and cherry.
• Document, collect data, maintain records, and track experiments using LIMs and electronic notebooks.
• Give regular updates at team and company-wide meetings, and deliver final report when the internship ends.
• Communicate progress and challenges to key stakeholders.

• A student currently enrolled in a Masters or PhD program in one of the following disciplines:
  Biology, Plant Science, Botany, Plant Biotechnology or similar fields.
• Experience and practical knowledge in plant tissue culture and transformation techniques.
• Experience with aseptic techniques.
• Experience keeping accurate scientific records.
• Ability to work collaboratively, and independently on individual experiments.
• Excellent organization, oral and written communication.
• Experience or knowledge in laboratory safety practices, including use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), SDS (Safety Data Sheet) and proper handling and disposal of laboratory waste.

• Paid internship experience in a field relevant to your studies.
• Real-world, industry work experience.
• Casual work environment.
• Mission-driven organization focused on creating healthier fruits and veggies.
• A cutting-edge, driven community looking to lead the industry in innovation and nutrition.

We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Pairwise we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways.

You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.