Resurrect Bio AI platform is the centerpiece of a UK startup’s effort to revive plants’ own immune responses against pathogens, offering a chemical-free route to crop protection as growers seek to cut pesticide use and contend with emerging resistance.
Instead of transferring resistance genes from wild relatives or deleting genes that make crops vulnerable, Resurrect Bio uses artificial intelligence to chart how plant immune receptors interact with proteins that pathogens and pests deploy to evade or suppress immunity. The company then identifies precise gene edits for seed partners to disrupt those interactions, blocking invaders and enabling crops to reassert their natural defenses.
The method is designed to help crops withstand fungi, oomycetes, and nematodes without additional chemical inputs. Company cofounder and CEO Cian Duggan discussed the approach and its FloraFold platform at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London.
How the Resurrect Bio AI platform works
Duggan said the company searches for naturally occurring resistance genes and immune receptors that pathogens have outmaneuvered over time, then designs edits to restore their function. In many cases, this means targeting suppressor proteins that pathogens or pests secrete inside plant cells. These proteins often bind to immune receptors and switch them off. In other cases, pathogens alter cellular processes to escape detection, and the company aims to re-establish that recognition. The goal can be to break a harmful interaction or to repair a lost one.
FloraFold, Resurrect Bio’s AI-driven protein folding and interaction prediction tool, narrows the vast search space by anticipating protein–protein interactions between plant receptors and pathogen effectors. Duggan said the platform, inspired by advances in protein structure prediction and tailored to plant biology, allows the firm to prioritize targets for its wet-lab screens. In the final step, the team engineers minimal DNA changes to interrupt suppression or enable renewed detection, then licenses those edits to seed companies or breeders.
Balancing efficacy and potential tradeoffs
Asked about downsides to reviving immune pathways, Duggan noted that any plant modification can carry risks, but said the company’s edits are highly specific to resistance proteins. He said negative effects are screened out early, lowering the likelihood of unwanted traits by the time breeders receive materials, with field trials providing the ultimate confirmation.
Applicability across crops and pests
According to Duggan, the approach can be applied across many crops and a wide range of pathogens and some pests. Traits are typically designed for a specific crop–pathogen pairing, such as late blight in potato or a viral disease.
While not a universal one-size-fits-all solution, similar traits can be adapted to related crops. Current programs include potato, tomato, soy, corn, and spinach, reflecting both related and unrelated plant families. Duggan said commercial considerations, rather than technical constraints, usually guide target selection.
Durability in an evolutionary arms race
On the staying power of resistance built using this method, Duggan said pathogens will eventually adapt, which is expected in an ongoing arms race. However, he said AI and a detailed understanding of how pathogens have overcome resistance in the past can offer a predictive edge, helping designers anticipate and counter likely evolutionary moves to remain ahead.
How the strategy compares
Duggan contrasted Resurrect Bio’s platform approach with methods that rely on literature mining or introgressing wild resistance genes, which can be time consuming and vulnerable to being bypassed by pathogen isolates that have coevolved. He also discussed loss-of-susceptibility strategies that knock out plant genes acting as entry points for pathogens, which can be durable and broad-spectrum but risk unforeseen agronomic tradeoffs. He said prioritizing resistance genes aligns with how plants naturally defend themselves.
Partnering models and regulation
The company works with partners in two main ways. It develops traits internally and licenses them with milestone payments and long-term value sharing, or it undertakes sponsored projects that give partners guaranteed access to resulting traits.
Duggan said the recent movement in the United Kingdom and the European Union on gene editing regulations, along with established pathways in the Americas, opens significant markets. While the firm anticipated regulatory changes, it initially focused product development in the Americas and is now positioned to serve Europe as frameworks advance.
What is next for Resurrect Bio
Following the close of its Series A financing about six months ago, the company has been expanding its team and product development capacity. Over the next 12 to 18 months, it plans to execute across programs in soy, corn, tomato, potato, and spinach, targeting several pathogens and pests, and to secure partnerships with both major and smaller industry players.
Current programs include potato, tomato, soy, corn, and spinach, reflecting both related and unrelated plant families, and tie into shifting global demand for crops such as soybean. Duggan said commercial considerations, rather than technical constraints, usually guide target selection.
The method is designed to help crops withstand fungi, oomycetes, and nematodes without additional chemical inputs, complementing regulatory pathways in the Americas overseen in part by agencies like the US Department of Agriculture. Duggan discussed the approach and its FloraFold platform at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London.