AFINGEN®

AFINGEN is an agricultural biotech company that enhances crop production through its AFINGEN Positive Feedback Loop (APFL) and Climate Bio platforms. The company has developed fast-growing, high-yield crops for rotation, cover, and dual-purpose forage, including rice, corn, wheat, soybeans, canola, alfalfa, and sorghum.

The APFL platform uses synthetic biology to enhance crops with minimal genetic manipulation compared with traditional bioengineering. APFL has developed four improved crop traits including 1) accelerated growth and increased biomass, 2) enhanced seed or grain yield, 3) improved root development, and 4) increased digestibility. The first trait resulted in a yield increase in switchgrass, followed by the second trait yielding a 100%–200% increase in plant yield for switchgrass and canola growing twice as fast as the control group. The third trait boosted tissue yield and root growth for alfalfa plants. Lastly, the fourth trait reduced switchgrass lignin content by 25%, resulting in 20%–30% higher saccharides and 80%–120% higher soluble aromatics content.

Climate Bio aims to reduce agricultural methane emissions from animal manure, which can cause bloating in cows, by developing anti-methane biomass technology. This involves creating new crop varieties that capture more CO2 and improve biomass compositions for feed and biorefinery applications. The resulting improved biomass feedstock can reduce cattle emissions arising from cow manure by 20%–40%, mitigating cattle bloating.

Key customers and partnerships 

AFINGEN’s partners include the US Department of Agriculture, NASA, the US Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California, and the Joint Bioenergy Institute.