b'PARTNER CONTENTBioHeuris Will Begin Field Trials with Its First CRISPR-Edited VarietiesW eeds have always been a major concern for agriculture.With this miniaturized state-of-the-art platform thousands of Although farmers around the world are spending moreplant gene variants can be discovered and ranked by the level of than U.S.$23 billion in herbicides to control them herbicide tolerance they provide.annually, new resistant weeds are spreading faster than ever. TheTo introduce these traits in crops they developed a state-of-problem is in part due to the repeated use of a limited number ofthe-art gene editing and speed-breeding platform that uses LED herbicides. technology.Argentine biotech start-up BioHeuris is hoping to address thisWith our platforms fully operational, time to market will be issue by bringing farmers a next-generation of herbicide-resistantreduced by half and development costs cut 50 times compared crops using synthetic biology, speed-breeding and CRISPR geneto current GMO crops developed by the big seed companies. editing. This not only makes BioHeuris really attractive for our partners There are more than 300 registered herbicides. Some ofbut also means we will be able to lower input costs for farmers, the greener ones can control weeds but also damage crops,added Lieber.BioHeuris CEO and co-founder Lucas Lieber said. With ourRecently, the regulatory agencies of Argentina, Brazil and the technology, farmers could start using a more diversified paletteU.S. confirmed that the products that BioHeuris is developing of herbicides that are safer for the environment, delaying weedwill be regulated as conventional products and not as transgenic resistance. crops, which will allow them to provide more options to growers, BioHeuris is partnering with independent seed and chemicalat a lower price and faster than with current solutions based on companies that co-invest in research and development in dif- GMO events.ferent countries and several crops including soybean, sorghum,Our technology improves crops without leaving DNA from cotton and rice. other species in plant genomes, said Lieber.Using high-throughput protein evolution assays in microor- This year the company plans to start its first field trials with ganisms, in a few weeks BioHeuris lab is able to mimic experi- edited varieties and expects to launch its first commercialments that would take hundreds of acres and years of field trials.product in 2026.LATAMSEEDWORLD.COM /27'