Pairwise and Bayer collaborate to CRISPR short-stem maize
Bayer and Pairwise extend their collaboration in precision breeding for five further years to develop CRISPR applications for Bayer's Preceon Smart Corn System.
Following Leaps by Bayer’s co-investment in a US$90m Series B financing in Pairwise Plants Services Inc. in 2021,German seed giant Bayer AG has started a multimillion US dollar collaboration with the five-year old US genome editing start-up Pairwise (Durham, USA). The five-year collaboration builds on Pairwise Plants Services proprietary CRISPR technology that has been used to modify 27 new plant traits in corn, soybean, wheat, cotton and canola crops, which have been adopted into Bayer’s experimental programmes.
A new agreement aims at unsing Pairwises Fulcrum genome editing platform to drive innovation in short-stem corn research and development. As part of a previous five-year collaboration ?with Bayer, Pairwise deployed the Fulcrum platform to develop a new corn phenotype. This new type of corn has dramatically increased kernel row numbers by up to 20%, with the potential to significantly increase yield, allowing farmers to grow more with less. The new type of corn was first field trialed in 2021 – making Pairwise one of the first companies in the world to field test ?a gene edited crop. Under the new collaboration, this corn will become part of Bayer’s new Preceon Smart Corn System in the future. The innovative short-stem corn has a 30 to 40 percent lower growing height than conventional corn. It offers numerous sustainability benefits, including better protection against crop losses due to extreme winds and severe weather events, which are set to intensify as climate change advances. This allows yields to be increased in an environmentally responsible way thanks to a reduced risk of crop loss. Short-stem corn also allows for more precise use of resources during the growing season.
“Pairwise has developed proprietary editing tools that allow specific changes to be made at virtually any point in the genome. This enables targeted and much-needed improvements in agriculture,” explains Bob Reiter, Head of Research and Development at Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “These new genomic techniques are exceptionally targeted and deliver much faster and more accurate results than the conventional breeding process. As a result, we can provide growers with the solutions they need more quickly.”
The first five-year collaboration between Bayer and Pairwise focused on corn, soybean, wheat, cotton and canola. Its goal was to produce more from the same amount of land with less input. The partnership ended in June 2023 and has produced 27 novel crop traits, all of which have been adopted into trial programs by Bayer. The partnership delivered results with significant commercial value. These include edited corn phenotypes with 20 percent more kernel rows, promising significantly higher yields from the same acreage. Another result is edited soybeans that are better protected against Asian soybean rust. As a result, fewer fungicides need to be used to control the disease – while yields are higher.
Pairwise has enabled success in customized gene editing with its proprietary tools. These include REDRAW (RNA-encoded DNA exchange of alleles using CRISPR), a precision editing toolbox with templates that can be used to perform minute interventions on CRISPR target areas. Another tool is SHARC, a proprietary enzyme suitable for cutting and editing. These techniques will also be used in the new collaboration to further develop short-stem corn.
Within only 4 years, Pairwise has already successfully demonstrated that CRISPR and other new technologies can help bring new products to market faster. For example, Pairwise recently launched its first product for the US foodservice industry, romaine lettuce Conscious Greens. Leveraging leading-edge technologies and the efficiencies of the company’s proprietary Fulcrum platform, the product took only four years from conception to commercialisation.
