Sustainable Agriculture

Our surging population size and changing climate severely threaten future food security.

With the newfound ability to modify plant genomes easily and precisely with CRISPR-Cas enzymes, we have an unprecedented opportunity to improve agriculture. The IGI uses genome editing to create sustainable crops that are resistant to pests and diseases and less dependent upon chemical fertilizers. We will also produce more healthful and nutritious food. We are committed to ensuring that robust new crop varieties will be broadly available and benefit both the developed and developing worlds.

Key Goals

Establish new ways to deliver CRISPR components to crops

Develop strategies to edit plant DNA without foreign DNA insertion

Explore the genetic basis of disease resistance and generate plants that are immune to infection

Engineer the crops of the future: climate change-resistant, sustainable, and nutritious

Plant Genomics and Transformation Facility

Located in the Innovative Genomics Institute Building at UC Berkeley, the Plant Genomics and Transformation Facility (PGTF) has established transformation and genome editing protocols for a selection of major crop species.

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