CRISPR gene editing technology is beginning to deliver on a promise to quickly create crops with traits that withstand a changing climate, resist aggressive pests and reinvigorate healthy soils, according to experts at the South by Southwest event in Austin earlier this month.

Companies exploring CRISPR to make climate-friendly foods and medicines are enjoying some tailwinds:

• In February, the European Parliament voted to loosen restrictions on certain crops made with the technique. 
• In 2023, the first CRISPR-edited salad greens and Sickle Cell therapies reached U.S. markets. 
• Nearly two dozen CRISPR startups are advancing crops that use resources efficiently and resist pests better than traditional ones. These include Pairwise, with $114 million in funding, the Andreessen Horowitz-backed SciFi Foods, tomato-breeder Sanatech Seed and crop-protection startup Agragene. 

At the same time, startups and researchers are taking on investment partnerships with larger organizations to commercialize CRISPR innovations. Bayer has a project with Pairwise to create a corn crop that is more resilient to environmental factors. In 2011, The Gates Foundation gave a $10.3 million grant to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and has re-invested more than $16 million to the organization in 2023 to create climate resistant rice varieties.

CRISPR and climate change

The past 200 years of industrialized agriculture have increased yields and eased shipping with large, durable produce — often to the detriment of the soil, the planet and taste.

"We think with gene editing you won’t have to make that choice," said Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise. The startup is producing the first CRISPR consumer product by editing out the wasabi-like spiciness of a mustard green to make it more palatable to eaters. 

Pairwise sold the green at a New York grocer earlier this year and is seeking to partner with companies to sell to consumers. The company’s main focus is developing business-to-business markets by selling ingredient crops or seeds to big agricultural companies or seed banks.

What CRISPR is

Traditionally, farmers mated or cross-pollinated organisms to augment their desired characteristics. It could take decades to cultivate a plant to the desired enhancement for human consumption.

In the 1970s, scientists began genetically modifying organisms (GMOs) by cultivating foreign DNA in a bacteria or virus and then inducing those cells to add their modified DNA into a plant or animal. The modified DNA would typically offer resistance to pests or diseases.

CRISPR opens up new possibilities to modify crops by knocking out or enhancing genes that are already present. "It’s more precise, and more accurate and more intuitive than breeding," said Elena Del Pup, a plant genetics researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. "[It] allows us to make very specific edits."

"The hope and the promise of [CRISPR] is that by making a few simple edits, you confer a highly valuable disease resistance trait onto a crop," said Vipula Shukla, senior program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

How GMOs are regulated

If European Union states eventually accept the recent parliamentary vote, they would exempt plants with CRISPR edits from GMO labeling requirements.

The EU has been notoriously strict on GMOs, requiring labeling under consumer "right to know" rules since 1997. Every GMO product must receive EU authorization and a risk assessment.

In the United States, the FDA began requiring clear labeling on consumer products containing GMOs in 2022. In 2018, the USDA decided that CRISPR-edited foods do not need to be regulated or labeled as genetically edited because these modifications could have been done with traditional breeding alone.

Experts think the new EU vote that exempts CRISPR from these rules indicates a willingness to embrace new tools to address the challenges of providing enough food for a growing population facing climate change.

Here’s how advocates foresee CRISPR helping the food system become more resilient to climate change.

1. Increasing yield and efficiency 

In agriculture, maximizing yield remains a top priority. Crops that produce more food and use less fertilizer, water and pesticides also decrease embedded emissions.

Pairwise, in collaboration with Bayer, is editing corn that yields more kernels per ear. Another edited corn grows to 6 feet rather than the conventional 9 feet tall. 

"The advantage is that it's much sturdier," said Adams. "So if there's a big wind it doesn't get blown over." It also makes applying insecticides, fungicides and herbicides easier.

To engineer the next gene