Precision genome editing platform

WHAT IT IS

Our platform makes exact, predictable genetic changes in crops - and gets them into the elite genotypes breeding programmes actually use. It has two layers usually developed separately: editing chemistry (prime editing optimised for dicots, Cas12a gene targeting for multi-kilobase insertion) and delivery (a super-infective Agrobacterium ternary vector, and a root-to-shoot route for genotypes that resist tissue culture).

WHY IT MATTERS

Two bottlenecks hold back precision breeding. First, molecular efficiency: prime editing works well in monocots but has been unreliable in dicots, and multi-kilobase insertion remains difficult in any crop. Second, transformation and regeneration: an excellent editor is useless if it cannot reach a commercially relevant background. Most platforms solve one and assume the other away. Ours addresses both, so edits move from callus to fertile, heritable, transgene-free plants rather than stalling at proof of concept.

HOW IT WORKS

Ultra Prime Editor (UtPE) combines a BeYDV viral replicon with a PE6 architecture and viral nucleocapsid chaperones, raising editing up to 8.9-fold over earlier dicot prime editors, with versions tuned for simple and complex pegRNAs.

Cas12a gene targeting uses geminiviral-replicon donor amplification to raise donor copy number and transient dominant-negative KU80 to bias repair away from non-homologous end joining, enabling homology-directed insertion of large cassettes.

SuperAgrobacterium is a ternary vector system that raises transformation efficiency substantially while remaining fully compatible with standard Agrobacterium protocols.

Root-to-Shoot Transformation (R2S-T) induces transformed roots using rolA, then converts lateral root primordia directly into shoots. Because shoots arise from transformed root cells, edits are more uniform, chimerism is reduced, and the long callus step is bypassed.

PROOF TO DATE

We reported the first practical prime editing in tomato. UtPE worked at all eleven sites tested, including targets that failed with earlier dicot systems. Replicon donor delivery raised somatic gene targeting roughly threefold in tomato with LbCas12a outperforming SpCas9, and dominant-negative KU80 improved gene targeting 1.7 to 3.55-fold across loci, up to 9.8-fold at one locus.

R2S-T produced T0 homozygous prime-edited Arabidopsis - to our knowledge the first such report - with 56% of plants exceeding 10% editing at AtALS, where floral dipping produced no strong events. Off-target editing stayed near background, edits were heritable, and transgene-free lines were recovered by segregation. The route extends to crops: 66% direct shoot conversion in two commercial cabbage lines, and semi-in-planta transformation in hemp and soybean.

The platform has produced a commercial product: our high-lutein tomato, made by chromosomal inversion with no foreign DNA retained, carries an 11-fold lutein increase and has been reviewed by Health Canada as not a novel food.

Published in Nature Communications, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Horticulture Research and Rice. Core technologies are patented in Korea, the US, China and Canada.

NEXT STEPS

We are extending R2S-T across Brassica and legume crops, scaling gene targeting toward larger payloads, and seeking partners for trait development in partner germplasm, platform licensing, and co-development. We work as a development partner, not a contract vendor, and are open to milestone-based structures.