Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
The Danforth Technology Company (DTC) today announced the launch of Spearhead Bio, a startup pioneering a breakthrough platform to enhance the efficiency of crop genome engineering by harnessing the plant’s own natural DNA. Spearhead’s Transposase Assisted Homology Independent Targeted Insertion (TAHITI) technology allows the seamless integration of genes into both transgenic and non-transgenic crops.
“Our goal is to unlock the full potential of plant genetics using the tools nature already provides,” said Spearhead Bio Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Keith Slotkin, PhD. “By engineering the plant’s own genome-editing machinery, we’re creating a faster, cleaner, and more predictable path to crop improvement.” Slotkin is a Danforth Center Principal Investigator and the inventor of the TAHITI system.
DTC CEO Tom Laurita will serve as CEO of Spearhead Bio. “CRISPR gene editing holds the promise to fundamentally change how we do crop breeding,” said Laurita. “It is a genome ‘scissors’, but to fulfill its potential it requires a genome ‘glue’ to efficiently and accurately insert incised genes into the genome. That ‘glue’ is the TAHITI system. I believe this may be the most impactful technology ever to have come out of the Danforth Center.”
Read the full news release here.