GigaCrop targets double corn yield with AI photosynthesis

Tom Whitfield

GigaCrop has raised more than $7 million to develop an AI-engineered carbon-fixation pathway that founder Chris Eiben believes could double corn yields. GigaCrop is not ready to hold field trials, so the claim remains a development target rather than an agronomic result.

At the University of Illinois Research Park, Shawn Carlson, GigaCrop's head of plant transformation, leads the company's corn research at EnterpriseWorks, the university startup incubator. Carlson said the goal is to improve photosynthesis. The technology remains in early development, with the company working to develop its first corn plants.

GigaCrop's funding has come from grants and venture capital:

• $2.7 million in grants from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.
• $4.5 million from Playground Global, a California-based technology venture capital firm.

Why does Rubisco limit crop output?

Photosynthesis depends heavily on Rubisco, an enzyme about 10 times slower than a typical enzyme in a plant's core metabolism. Plants compensate by producing large amounts of the enzyme, which ties up substantial resources. Rubisco can also make mistakes; in some cases, a repair response then cuts photosynthesis efficiency by up to 50%.

“Because of this bottleneck, plants typically waste about 9 of every 10 photons they receive,” Eiben said. Rubisco exists in every green plant and accounts for 30% to 50% of the world's proteins. Its abundance and error rate make it a central target for crop scientists.

The work turns photosynthesis, which farmers rarely consider directly, into a seed trait. A successful alternative pathway could produce more grain with the same or fewer inputs.

How does AI sidestep Rubisco?

GigaCrop uses artificial intelligence to identify and evaluate enzyme combinations for an alternative carbon-fixation pathway. Scientists then use AI-engineered enzymes to work around Rubisco and augment a plant's ability to fix carbon dioxide.

Other companies are working to modify Rubisco, while GigaCrop plans to run its alternative pathway in parallel rather than change the enzyme. Researchers have pursued more efficient photosynthesis for several years, but Carlson said AI changes the enzyme search: “AI is helping us find promising enzymes that we might not have otherwise considered.”

Carlson described a staged process for moving a candidate enzyme's DNA into corn. As engineers identify combinations that work, researchers use a gene gun to introduce the DNA into plant cells, where it can become incorporated into the cells' genome. They then grow plants from those cells and evaluate how well the new trait works in the plant.

The alternative route could allow corn to use more sunlight, fix carbon dioxide more efficiently and put more captured carbon into grain. Carlson said farmers could use less land and gain much more yield because plants would use sunlight more efficiently. GigaCrop has not tested those benefits in field conditions; the claims therefore remain tied to developing plants rather than harvest results.

What changes for corn and soybean farmers?

GigaCrop expects to bring the technology to farmers as a trait incorporated into seeds they already buy. The company focuses on corn and soybeans and may expand into sugarbeets. It has not finalised the method, and could license the technology to seed companies or sell seed through its own seed business.

GigaCrop expects to gather initial data within the next year as it develops its first corn plants. The company is not ready to hold field trials, although Carlson hopes to run them in the future. The first technical checkpoint is therefore whether the engineered plants deliver the intended pathway effect.

Carlson said any improvement in photosynthesis would be a win for agriculture and humankind, regardless of which company achieves it first. For growers, the relevant test remains narrower: whether the trait raises yield or reduces inputs under field conditions.

Farmers should treat the double-yield ambition as a milestone to verify, not a purchasing promise. The next checks are initial plant data within the next year, a move into field trials and the route by which GigaCrop licenses the trait or sells seed. Until commercial performance is established, those results will carry more weight than the founder's yield ambition.