Developing bioengineered sugar beet for aphid resistance and virus control.

Resurrect Bio has developed a technique for improving the immune system of crops using gene editing. They plan to use this technique to create sugar beet lines that are resistant to an aphid that spreads virus yellows, which can cause crop yields to decrease by up to 50%. The project will consist of three parts: defining the aphid's virulence proteins, decrypting the sugar beet's immune hubs, and determining which virulence proteins from the aphid are subverting the crop's natural defense response. The success of the project will allow Resurrect Bio to identify the specific immune receptors needed to make sugar beet resistant to the aphid. Targeted editing of these genes by plant breeding companies would allow farmers to reduce the use of pesticides, whilst increasing the yield of their crops.