Speaking to AgNavigator at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London, Lotte Westerhof, the Co-founder and CSO of Hudson River Biotechnology, said interest in CRISPR-based crop development is being fuelled less by scientific breakthroughs and more by regulatory progress.
Regulatory shift sparks new momentum
“The technology has been there for a long time. The need for traits is indeed growing,” she said. “But from my perspective, 100% what is greasing the wheels now is the regulation.”
Westerhoff argued that the removal of regulatory uncertainty is encouraging companies that had previously remained cautious to explore gene-editing programmes and partnerships.
New partnership targets difficult crop traits
The comments follow a new partnership between Hudson River Biotechnology and Biographica aimed at helping breeders tackle some of agriculture’s most challenging trait problems.
The two companies have combined Biographica’s computational gene target discovery platform with Hudson River’s genome-editing and single-cell plant regeneration capabilities, creating an end-to-end solution for developing difficult crop traits.
According to the companies, the collaboration brings together the ability to identify promising genetic targets with the capability to rapidly generate and validate edits in plants.
Breeders seeking answers on what to edit
Hudson River, which specialises in CRISPR-based crop improvement, initially expected breeders to arrive with clear requests for specific gene edits. Instead, many are asking a more fundamental question.
“What do we edit?” said Westerhoff.
That challenge is where Biographica sees an opportunity. The company has developed predictive algorithms designed to identify genes linked to desirable traits and recommend the most effective edits.
According to Biographica CEO Dominic Hall, disease resistance remains the leading area of demand, followed by traits related to abiotic stress such as drought and heat tolerance.
“Diseases evolve as well as plants evolve,” Hall said. “A target that looks promising in the literature may already be out of date because pathogens in the field have overcome that resistance.”
Open innovation gaining traction
Hall said major seed companies are increasingly embracing external innovation in a similar way to pharmaceutical companies outsource early-stage drug discovery.
Rather than replacing internal R&D programmes, outside partners can help breeders pursue a wider range of traits than their own teams have the capacity to develop.
“We’ve had more and more conversations with external innovation teams at larger seed companies,” Hall said. “They’re increasingly looking externally to scale their trait portfolios.”
Beyond the farm gate
While disease resistance and climate resilience remain priorities, Hall believes the next wave of gene-edited crops could focus more directly on consumer benefits.
He pointed to developments such as vitamin D-enriched tomatoes and argued that future varieties could deliver improved nutrition and flavour without sacrificing yield.
“If consumers see direct benefits from these traits,” he said, “that could help accelerate adoption even further.”
World Agri-Tech London Webinar: Event Intel Unwrapped
This interview was conducted at the recent World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London. The full on-camera interview with Hudson River Biotechnology and Biographica, alongside discussions with other industry experts, will be featured in AgNavigator’s World Agri-Tech Unwrapped webinar on 4 November. The webinar will also be available on demand. Register for free here
