The John Innes Centre, together with its academic and industry partners, has secured UK Government funding for four projects aimed at advancing precision breeding.
Funding through the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Farming Innovation Programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, will support research-industry collaborations to develop more sustainable crops, open new markets and help farmers adopt precision breeding techniques. The programme includes at least £21.5 million in new funding for 15 innovation projects across England and Wales, focused on cutting farm emissions, strengthening resilience and improving productivity.
In England, the pathway to market for foods developed using precision breeding techniques such as gene editing has been enabled by the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.
The funded John Innes Centre projects span a range of agricultural, horticultural and biotechnology priorities, according to a press release.
Two projects aim to support farmers tackling major disease pressures in oilseed rape and sugar beet. Both crops are important break crops, but are increasingly threatened by pests and pathogens, and growers are seeking sustainable alternatives following the withdrawal of environmentally harmful chemical controls.
Another project is focused on bringing gene-edited, vitamin D3-enriched tomatoes to market for UK consumers. A fourth, biotechnology-led project will use gene editing to develop dandelions as a UK-grown, sustainable source of rubber, produced using aeroponic, soil-free cultivation in indoor farms.
John Innes Centre Director Professor Cristóbal Uauy welcomed the DEFRA announcement.
“We are delighted to be partners in four of the projects chosen in the Farming Innovation Programme precision breeding initiative. The fact that our scientists and their industry partners have performed so strongly in this funding round is an endorsement of the John Innes Centre’s value as a hub of precision breeding expertise and a national capability supported by the BBSRC,” he said.
“The four projects, all quite different and on different crops, reflect the UK’s ambition to leverage new precision breeding technology for rapid crop improvement and innovation. With these enterprises we will help protect two major agricultural crops from damaging diseases, enhance the nutritional content of the world’s leading horticultural crop, tomato, while supporting an agritech project involving a completely new UK crop, dandelion. While the science itself is fascinating, the real-world impact these innovations could have on society, agriculture and farmers cannot be underestimated,” he added.
The Farming Innovation Programme forms part of DEFRA’s investment in innovation, research and development, using science to develop sustainable, practical solutions for challenges in agriculture and horticulture. It is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
DEFRA grants cover a proportion of eligible project costs, with the remaining funding provided by the participating organisations and industry partners.
Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle said: “Innovation is central to a more productive, resilient farming sector. This funding will back new ideas farmers can use on the ground to cut methane and fertiliser-related emissions, strengthen crop resilience and improve nutrition.”
The four successful projects in the precision breeding competition involving the John Innes Centre and its partners include:
Scaling Gene Editing-Induced Gene Silencing for Virus Yellows Resistance in Sugar Beet
The £1.7 million, three-year project brings together Professor Steven Penfield’s group at the John Innes Centre, British Sugar and Tropic Biosciences, based at the Norwich Research Park. It will use gene editing to develop sugar beet with improved resistance to virus yellows, a disease described as an “existential threat” to production. Virus yellows is estimated to cut yields by around 25 per cent, costing growers about £43 million.
Light Leaf Spot Enhancing Resistance and Reducing Susceptibility with Editing (LLS Erased)
The £2.5 million, three-year project brings together Dr Rachel Wells’ group at the John Innes Centre, researchers at the University of Hertfordshire, crop breeders and farmers. It will use gene editing to strengthen resistance to several major diseases affecting oilseed rape, including light leaf spot, which is estimated to have cost growers about £300 million in 2022.
LLS-Erased technical lead Dr Rachel Wells said the team is looking forward to taking its disease-resistant oilseed rape material from the lab into field-scale trials to test performance in real farming conditions.
Project lead Tom Allen-Stevens of the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN) said the work could be a major step for growers, bringing precision-bred oilseed rape onto farms for the first time in Europe.
The partnership includes gene-editing company Cibus, whose Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS) is designed to introduce targeted edits directly into elite breeding lines, accelerating the development of improved traits. Cibus’ Tony Moran said the company is pleased to join the collaboration to demonstrate how gene editing can help tackle a major oilseed rape disease and deliver benefits for farmers in the UK and beyond.
Sunshine Tomatoes: A Farming Future Through Precision Breeding
The £1.1 million, three-year project aims to commercialise the Sunshine Tomato, a gene-edited, vitamin-enriched tomato developed to help address widespread vitamin D deficiency. Created by Professor Cathie Martin’s group at the John Innes Centre, the tomato is expected to be among the first food crops approved under the UK’s precision breeding legislation.
The funding will support development of consumer products including fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and plant-based vitamin D supplements. The project also includes a financial contribution from John Innes Enterprises, the John Innes Centre’s commercial arm.
QuBOOSTR – Quality Bioengineering for Optimised Output & Sustainable Technologies in rubber-producing crops
The £2.4 million QuBOOSTR project brings together Norwich Research Park startup QuberTech, the John Innes Centre and its Germplasm Resources Unit, and aeroponic indoor cultivation specialist LettUsGrow. The consortium will use precision breeding to improve dandelions, which naturally produce latex in their roots, and optimise production using aeroponic farming systems.
While dandelion latex levels have historically been considered too low for commercial, sustainable production, the project aims to increase output and create a more viable route to UK-based rubber supply. The approach could help secure a valuable global commodity increasingly exposed to climate risks and supply-chain disruption.
