Cytotrait Secures £3M To Advance Agricultural Gene-Editing Technology

The round was led by Northern Gritstone, with participation from the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, managed by Future Planet Capital, and the Northern Universities Ventures Fund, managed by Parkwalk in collaboration with Northern Gritstone.

Cytotrait develops technologies designed to improve crop traits using its proprietary Mutant Organelle Selection System (MOSS). The platform enables scientists to introduce genes or gene edits into plant organelles such as chloroplasts and mitochondria, allowing researchers to rapidly achieve homoplasmy a state where the desired genetic modification is present across all organelles within a cell or plant.

By enabling targeted edits or insertions in plant organelles the technology helps overcome longstanding technical barriers in plant engineering. It supports both endogenous gene editing and the introduction of transgenes, opening new possibilities for crop innovation.

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Cytotrait’s platform has potential applications in boosting crop yields, increasing resistance to pests and diseases, supporting hybrid crop development, and introducing new food-related traits.

The technology could also contribute to agricultural solutions aimed at enhancing carbon capture and supporting more sustainable farming practices.

The company plans to use the new funding to expand its research programs targeting key crops such as wheat, maize, potato, and canola across European and North American markets.

These initiatives will leverage the MOSS platform to explore ways to enhance crop yield and resilience, develop new food traits, and support more sustainable agricultural practices, including improved carbon sequestration

Dr Junwei Ji, co-founder and executive director of Cytotrait, said the company developed MOSS to help address challenges related to food security and agricultural sustainability. He noted that the technology is designed to support the development of crops with new and enhanced traits while potentially streamlining regulatory pathways.

About Cytotrait

Cytotrait is a biotechnology company developing novel traits for food and agriculture. Its proprietary Mutant Organelle Selection System (MOSS) enables gene edits and insertions in plant organelles, rapidly achieving homoplasmy. This approach allows high-level trait expression, improved containment, easier breeding and more efficient development of advanced crop traits.