[Startup Square Roots] announces a new program to prove that light can removed from a commercial vertical farming system and is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All the benefits of indoor farming remain, but the system can now operate with radically reduced energy needs. This translates directly to significantly lower production costs and associated CO2e.

This discovery could make indoor farming considerably more viable and sustainable for low and middle-income countries. The results could change the underlying economics for indoor farming globally, where energy needs today, primarily driven by the requirement for LED grow lights, can typically contribute 20%-40% of total costs.

To enable this new approach, Square Roots is working with gene-edited (CRISPR) plants that grow heterotrophically. More specifically, they can add biomass by uptaking carbon from acetate (a vinegar-like substance added to irrigation water) rather than relying on photosynthesis under LED lights. Effectively, these plants can grow “in the dark” on a vertical farm.

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Initial growing trials are focused on lettuces and so-called SPACE Tomatoes — which have been additionally edited to grow more fruit and less vine. In future phases, the company hopes to tackle higher-calorie crops such as sweet potatoes and cassava — staple crops in many low and middle-income countries.

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