Agriculture giant Corteva is partnering with agri-biotech innovator Phytoform to explore how AI can improve natural disease resistance in corn, the most widely grown crop in the US. 

Phytoform will use its plant-breeding technology to apply gene editing to help corn become resilient to two of the most damaging diseases impacting US growers.

“By accelerating what nature can achieve through our shared technologies, we’re taking steps to make global food production more sustainable and secure for one of the world’s most important crops,” says Dr. Will Pelton, chief executive of Phytoform, based at the Rothamsted Research site in the UK.

The company will leverage its AI-driven technology to scan through millions of potential variations in DNA control regions, picking out those that show activity in plant cells. This initiative will complement Corteva’s Genlytix platform, which combines advanced gene editing capabilities, data analytics, and strategic partnerships.

“We’re excited to leverage the contributions of Phytoform’s CRE.AI.TIVE AI platform with our Genlytix ecosystem to continue to grow Corteva’s position as a leader in developing critical solutions for US farmers,” says Tom Greene, senior director at Corteva and global leader of Corteva Catalyst.

The collaboration has the potential to shorten the gap between trait discovery and commercial deployment by offering an alternative to identifying new crop improvement methods and enabling breeders to target resilience traits faster and more accurately.

“This work shows how AI and biology can come together to build a more climate-resilient food system,” says Dr. Nicolas Kral, Phytoform’s chief technology officer. “We’re not just fixing plants, we’re future-proofing agriculture.”