North Carolina Patent of the Month – October 2024
Pairwise is redefining the future of agricultural innovation with its groundbreaking plant-compatible CRISPR-Cas base editing technology. By optimizing nucleic acid constructs specifically for plant expression, Pairwise’s invention overcomes longstanding challenges in precise and efficient gene editing across a wide range of crop species. This advancement holds transformative potential for global agriculture, enabling the development of resilient, high-yield crops tailored to the world’s growing needs.
At the core of this innovation is a codon-optimized CRISPR-Cas system, integrated with a deaminase domain, that achieves targeted and predictable base edits in plant genomes. By facilitating adenine-to-guanine (A→G) or cytosine-to-thymine (C→T) conversions, the technology ensures precision in modifying genetic traits. Unlike traditional Cas9 editing, which often results in unpredictable insertions or deletions, Pairwise’s system delivers consistent point mutations, making it ideal for enhancing desirable traits like disease resistance, drought tolerance, and improved nutritional profiles.
This system isn’t just more precise—it’s also significantly more efficient. Prior base editing approaches in plants, particularly in crops like maize and wheat, have faced low success rates, often below 10%. Pairwise’s codon-optimized constructs, paired with intron-enhanced promoters, dramatically boost editing efficiency, bridging the gap between scientific potential and practical application in agriculture.
With applications extending from staple crops to specialized produce, Pairwise’s CRISPR-Cas technology empowers breeders to accelerate the development of sustainable, high-performance crops. By reducing reliance on traditional crossbreeding and chemical inputs, this innovation supports global food security while minimizing environmental impact.
Through its commitment to precision and scalability, Pairwise is setting a new standard for plant gene editing. This transformative technology promises to reshape how we cultivate crops, ensuring a more sustainable, resilient, and nutritious food system for the future.
Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.
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The Research & Experimentation Tax Credit (or R&D Tax Credit), is a general business tax credit under Internal Revenue Code section 41 for companies that incur research and development (R&D) costs in the United States. The credits are a tax incentive for performing qualified research in the United States, resulting in a credit to a tax return. For the first three years of R&D claims, 6% of the total qualified research expenses (QRE) form the gross credit. In the 4th year of claims and beyond, a base amount is calculated, and an adjusted expense line is multiplied times 14%. Click here to learn more.
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