Producing what we need to eat puts an enormous burden on both the climate and the environment. Yet, at the same time, crop failures caused by extreme storms, drought and heat waves threaten the food security of a growing global population.

Scientists want to use AI and what is known as the CRISPR-CAS9 gene scissors to develop climate-resistant supercultures capable of delivering higher yields with fewer resources. They do this by modifying the plants’ genes using a method called genome editing.

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Using artificial intelligence, Phytoform is trying to identify even more optimization opportunities in genes. Their algorithms can quickly process volumes of data that would take an individual person years to achieve. The technology has advanced to the point where some algorithms already understand DNA datasets much better than humans.

“So it can start to spot regions that are repeated and therefore start to derive meaning,” said [William] Pelton. “And, of course, that means it can then understand the DNA, but then it can also suggest changes that could be made in order to affect an outcome.”

Phytoform is currently working on a potato that doesn’t turn brown when bashed or bruised, which could lead to fewer potatoes being thrown away even though they are still edible.

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here