Agriculture is responsible for 19% of global emissions, with over 50% of earth’s habitable land dedicated solely to agricultural practices. In fact, changes in land-use associated with growing crops for human and animal feed alone accounts for about 10% of annual emissions. Additionally, the global population is set to reach 10 billion by 2050, up from 8 billion today. Meeting the world’s growing food demand in the coming decades while reducing agricultural emissions poses a real challenge. One that requires new innovative approaches to improve agricultural yields and feed more people while using less land.

Unlocking the full potential of photosynthesis!

The process of photosynthesis is two fold – during the day, plants absorb sunlight, and during the night they transform the captured starch and use it as an energy source to fuel growth. Plants however are limited in the amount of transient starch they can store throughout the day, meaning they simply cannot consume the total amount of sunlight provided by the sun. 

Capitalizing on transformative gene editing techniques, ClimateCrop’s breakthrough technology enhances the ability of thousands of crops to absorb sunlight. They have identified a protein, which is found in over 300,000 plant species, that allows for increased starch synthesis, resulting in significant yield gains.

Leveraging decades of research from Israel’s renowned Weizmann Institute, ClimateCrop’s gene editing technology has shown tremendous results including massive gains in yield and increased resilience to adverse conditions. For example, they have achieved yield increases of 91% in potatoes, 41% canola, 24% sorghum and 20% in tomatoes. The potatoes also showed a 21% higher survival rate when exposed to extreme conditions, an important co-benefit as we face more extreme climatic conditions such as droughts and extreme heat waves.

ClimateCrop’s climate impact potential is massive!

Optimizing photosynthetic efficiency in crops and plants, also allows carbon sequestration to occur faster. ClimateCrop’s protein modification also exists in trees, enhancing their ability to store more carbon and grow faster. Using a small non-GM edit, their IP holds significant potential applications beyond agriculture and carbon sequestration, such as in industrial markets. While they currently focus on food crops, their technology can be applied to industrial materials such as cotton, rapeseed oil used for aviation fuel and more.

With an outstanding founding team backed by an incredible scientific discovery, we are confident that ClimateCrop’s remarkable findings are only the beginning. We are working closely with the team to grow their operations and scale their technology and are excited about what the future holds.

Read more about ClimateCrop here.