Gordon Younkin

Gordon Younkin joined Flagship Pioneering in 2025 as an Associate after completing the Flagship Fellowship program in 2024. His work focuses on creating and supporting early-stage ventures in agriculture and sustainability.

Gordon brings expertise in plant biochemistry and molecular biology to his role. He completed his doctoral research at the Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell University, where he studied the biosynthesis and ecological function of cardiac glycosides, a group of plant medicinal compounds. He developed genetic and molecular tools to study these compounds in the non-model plant Erysimum cheiranthoides, and he used these tools to identify and characterize six enzymes responsible for cardiac glycoside biosynthesis. His previous experience includes an internship at CoverCress Inc., where he supported gene editing efforts to engineer agronomic traits in Pennycress, a new winter oilseed crop.

Earlier in his career, Gordon participated in fellowships with both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. His research has been published in journals including Science and New Phytologist and has received awards at conferences sponsored by the Botanical Society of America and the Phytochemical Society of North America.

Gordon holds a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from Cornell University and a B.A. in Chemistry and Environmental Science from Northwestern University.