Bioheuris partners with GDM to develop crop management system in soybeans using gene editing

Bioheuris, an agbiotech startup that uses synthetic biology and gene editing for improved crop management, and GDM, a leading global soybeans genetics powerhouse, announced a collaboration agreement on June 29 to develop high yielding varieties using gene editing technology.

Through this collaboration, both companies will be engaged to precisely modify soybean genes to obtain elite varieties with a novel crop management system.

“Two months ago, we filed a provisional patent in the US to cover crop genes optimized with the use of our novel protein evolution technology Heurik™. Bioheuris’ miniaturized high-throughput approach is able to mimic in a few weeks in the lab what it would take hundreds of acres and years of field trials to accomplish,” said Lucas Lieber, CEO and co-founder of Bioheuris. “Partnering with GDM to improve elite soybeans is an important step towards bringing farmers access to more integrated crop protection solutions on high yielding varieties.”

Over the last 40 years, GDM has been using cutting edge technology to improve soybean varieties, with a focus on constant innovation and state-of-the-art breeding programs in more than 15 countries. Today, more than one third of the world’s soybean production is made using GDM genetics.

“Bioheuris’ mission aligns with GDM’s vision of developing the best varieties to improve agricultural productivity and address farmer needs to face the increasing market demands to feed the growing population” said Manuel Mihura, Strategy and New Business Director for GDM. “The synergy of both companies creates an exciting opportunity to dramatically accelerate soybean breeding and provide growers, seed multipliers, and the seed industry more options to increase productivity and face market demands.”