Pairwise

Pairwise Plants (Pairwise) is a food technology startup that specializes in genome editing for fruits and vegetables. Pairwise combines intellectual property, in-house technology, and CRISPR in its gene editing process to cultivate climate-resistant fruits and vegetables that are more easily accessible, with higher yield and improved taste. Pairwise has successfully achieved edits in 16 crops and three of them (corn, soy, and leafy greens) have completed field trials.

Pairwise has its own fresh fruits and vegetables brand, Conscious Foods, which launched in 2022. Pairwise is reportedly among the early companies globally to commercialize food developed using CRISPR gene editing technology. Conscious Foods released Conscious Greens, the leafy high-nutrient salad greens, in May 2023 across select restaurants in the US through its partnership with Performance Food Group. The brand also has other products in the development stages, including seedless blackberries, and pitless cherries.

The company also launched its Fulcrum Platform in May 2023. The platform was developed on CRISPR technology with other custom gene editing tools including RNA-encoded DNA replacement of alleles (REDRAW) and SHARC, a proprietary enzyme used with the former, allowing it to make changes to plant genetics quickly and efficiently. The platform is claimed to have made 17 precise edits in mustard greens, which was the first CRISPR food delivered in the US market. Pairwise also offers gene-edited crops developed from its Fulcrum platform including corn, soy, wheat, and canola under its collaboration with Bayer. 

Key customers and partnerships

The company has strategically entered into multiple partnerships to advance its crop biotechnology business. It partnered with Monsanto to enhance gene-editing technology across various crops (March 2018). To further its research in berries, the company collaborated with Plant Sciences, Inc. (PSI) twice, initially alongside the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and academic institutions (June 2019) and later to improve the shelf life and taste of berries (April 2020). Further strengthening its crop portfolio, the company entered into a five-year agreement with Bayer to develop short-stature corn for Bayer’s Smart Corn System (August 2023).

Taking steps toward expanding its technological influence, the company granted Tropic Biosciences access to its base editing technologies, accelerating breeding innovations in coffee and banana crops (February 2022). This was followed by a technology license awarded to Solis Agrosciences, providing them with full access to the Fulcrum Platform for bespoke R&D services (June 2024).

The company also focused on education and sustainability by partnering with Honduras-based agricultural school Zamorano (April 2023) to establish a blackberry land plot, offering students practical opportunities.