syringe of mystery substance injected into an apple

Monsanto Invests $125M in Gene-Editing Startup Pairwise Plants

Monsanto Co. and Pairwise Plants have entered into an exclusive collaboration in which the California agricultural startup will work with the St. Louis-based agribusiness giant on gene-editing corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and canola crops.

March 28, 2018 | Source: Food Dive | by Cathy Siegner

This new collaboration will use a gene-editing tool called CRISPR, which allows researchers to quickly and accurately pinpoint areas inside the genome of crops such as corn, soybeans, strawberries or apples. The tool can then manipulate DNA to make the crops or produce sweeter or more flavorful, have an extended shelf life, or increase their tolerance to drought or floods.

Tom Adams, who has been Monsanto’s vice president of global biotechnology but will now become Pairwise’s new CEO, told Business Insider the two companies want be the first to get produce made using CRIPSR into the U.S. marketplace in the next five to 10 years. The publication said he hinted that the first item could be strawberries or some other fruit.

“My co-founders and I believe the technologies we have each been developing can have a profound impact in plant agriculture and will speed innovation that is badly needed to feed a growing population amid challenging conditions created by a changing climate,” said J. Keith Joung, Pairwise’s founder.