US company Pairwise is aiming to be among the first to bring new gene-edited crops to the market for human consumption.

The company uses new gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR to develop new varieties with improved flavour, shelf-life, nutrition and seasonal availability.

Gene-editing technology alters genes within a plant, without introducing foreign DNA, and rapidly increases the speed of variety development.

The company recently secured funding which will be used to bring its first product, a new type of leafy green, to the market in 2022.

New versions

The leafy green will have the nutritional qualities of some of the salads such as kale, but will have the taste qualities of salads such as romaine.

Pairwise is also working on new versions of multiple fruits such as blackberries and raspberries.

“We’ll be launching a blackberry that basically has really good tasting qualities, is produced year-round with pretty good yields, and we got rid of the thorns for the growers and the seeds for the consumers,” Pairwise CEO Tom Adams said in a statement.

Gene editing

Pairwise has built a new crop trait development platform, based on gene-editing technology licensed from leading research organisations, including Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Founded in 2018, the company has grown to 100 team members across two locations in Durham, North Carolina US, with additional growth expected in 2021.

Funding

The startup recently secured $90m (€74m) series B funding.

This follows a $25m (€20m) series A round in March 2018 that was focused on developing its gene-editing platform and initial products.

It also allowed the company to commence a $100m (€82m) collaboration with Bayer's crop science division to explore gene-editing tools for corn, soybeans, wheat, canola and cotton.