(AgFunder News) Spearhead Bio Advances Crop Genome Engineering

gFollowing an oversubscribed $1.62 million seed funding round, AgFunder News featured advances in crop genome engineering from Spearhead Bio, a startup founded by Danforth Center Principal Investigator Keith Slotkin, PhD.

Launched out of Danforth Technology Company, a subsidiary of the Danforth Center, Spearhead Bio is commercializing TAHITI, a genome engineering technology developed from Slotkin’s research. TAHITI could overcome a key limitation of CRISPR by enabling the precise insertion or replacement of large pieces of DNA.

The technology gives crop breeders greater control over large-scale genome edits, with potential applications in both transgenic and non-transgenic crops. In the article, Slotkin explains how greater efficiency could save industry partners years of development time and millions of dollars in crop improvement.