In the face of escalating challenges within the agricultural supply chain, continuous improvement in feed traits is becoming increasingly important. Enhancing the nutritional value and sustainability of feed crops, such as corn, cereals, and oilseed rape, offers considerable advantages:
- Maximizing Feeding Value: Improved feed traits lead to better livestock performance, lower feed costs, and enhanced animal health.
- Driving Sustainability: Greater feed efficiency means less crop is needed to produce the same amount of animal protein, thereby reducing waste, land use, and environmental impact.
AI-Powered Gene Discovery
In an innovative partnership, Heritable Agriculture will utilize its proprietary AI algorithms and multi-omic analysis to analyze genomic and phenotypic datasets from KWS. The aim is to identify gene targets that yield tangible improvements in feed quality traits.
“Traditional breeding for these traits typically spans a decade,” stated Brad Zamft, CEO of Heritable Agriculture. “By harnessing AI gene discovery and gene editing, we expect commercial availability within five years.”
From Prediction to Impact
Heritable’s platform has already shown high predictive accuracy in various crops, identifying novel genes for characteristics such as flowering time and taste within just 14-18 months. This collaboration aims to pinpoint multiple genes that exhibit at least a 15% effect size. “Achieving this increase in trait performance would revolutionize farming in KWS’s markets globally,” remarked Nadine Schumann, Research Scientist at KWS.
“If we succeed, we will further establish our AI-driven, multi-omic gene discovery platform as a leader in target identification,” added Tim Beissinger, CTO of Heritable.
A New Era for Breeding?
The discovered genes will support both gene editing and marker-assisted selection, enhancing KWS’s established breeding methods. The company anticipates that genome editing could reduce development timelines by 20-30%, speeding up the introduction of improved varieties to market. However, KWS emphasizes the necessity of evaluating the final products of these new breeding methods carefully, given the absence of a global regulatory framework.
As the demand for sustainable livestock production rises globally, this collaboration aims to position Heritable Agriculture and KWS at the leading edge of innovation—melding AI-driven insights with nearly 200 years of plant breeding expertise.
Zamft concluded, “This collaboration confirms our platform’s capability to convert complex multi-omics data into actionable biological insights. By applying our AI technology to KWS’s exceptional germplasm, we seek to unlock new value for farmers and the broader agricultural supply chain.”
Dr. Thomas Ehrhardt, head of global research & services at KWS, stated, “KWS is continually investigating new technologies to provide superior varieties to our farmers. Heritable’s innovative approach to gene target discovery presents a promising path forward to enhance the feeding value of our feed crop portfolio. We eagerly anticipate the outcomes of this study and its potential impact on our breeding programs.”
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