We are advancing multiple projects that apply CRISPR and genomic tools to the climate crisis.

Genome engineering can help agriculture both mitigate and adapt to climate change by enhancing the ability of plants and soils to capture atmospheric carbon, reducing emissions from livestock and soils, minimizing the need for farmer inputs, and improving the ability of crops to adapt to a changing climate.

We are safeguarding important crops against dangerous pathogens.

Banana, cacao, and wheat — three of the world’s most important and beloved crops — are threatened by disease. IGI researchers are working to make them resistant to these dangerous pathogens, while developing technology that can be used more broadly to induce disease resistance in these and other important crop plants.

We are developing a suite of new techniques for precise control of microbiomes.

IGI researchers are developing new tools to allow targeted genome editing directly within complex microbial communities. In agriculture, this could have important impacts in soil health, reducing emissions, carbon sequestration, and more.