discover the technology that can revolutionize agriculture

A startup in Ohalo, California, has come up with a game-changing innovation for agriculture: “enhanced breeding” technology. Traditionally, plant breeding is a gamble, as only 50 percent of the genes from the “parents” are transferred to the “offspring.” This means that getting all the desired traits in a plant is a matter of luck, a risky and costly gamble.

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With traditional methods, a plant may never inherit all the good traits, such as disease and drought resistance. This is because the natural process of crossbreeding results in a random mix of genes.

Ohalo spent five years perfecting gene editing techniques and securing patents.

The new technology ensures that offspring receive 100% of the desired characteristics from their parents by disabling the mechanism that divides genes in each parent. Thus, the resulting plants possess all the beneficial traits of their parents, significantly increasing productivity.

These “polyploid” plants have more than two complete sets of chromosomes, which results in significantly higher yields. Formed in 2019 by Dave Friedberg’s investment firm, The Production Board, Ohalo has raised more than $100 million from undisclosed investors.

Friedberg explained: “We have discovered how to make clonal gametes go through mitosis while preserving the complete genome of both mother and father. This allows us to combine desirable traits from both parents, ensuring 100% success in passing on traits.”

He added that this approach makes the breeding process much more efficient and faster, allowing breeding programs to be launched across multiple crops simultaneously. This is a major improvement compared to traditional methods, which can take years to produce results in a single crop.

Friedberg noted that polyploidy is not uncommon in plants. Species such as potatoes and strawberries already have multiple sets of chromosomes. Ohalo’s innovation is to control this natural process by duplicating genes and ensuring complete inheritance of both sets of chromosomes.

Friedberg mentioned that many plant breeders are incredulous when they first hear about this technology, but he is confident that this will change over time. “There is a ‘wow’ moment when you talk to breeders about this. While some are still in disbelief, we are excited about the potential of this technology.”

This groundbreaking technology promises to transform agriculture by enabling farmers to improve the resilience and productivity of their crops quickly and efficiently. Ohalo is at the forefront of this revolution, bringing hope and new possibilities to global agriculture.
We look forward to seeing how this technology will continue to evolve and positively impact the agricultural sector.