Resurrect Bio and Corteva target corn disease losses with gene-editing collaboration

Resurrect Bio has entered a joint development agreement with Corteva Agriscience to develop corn varieties with improved resistance to disease, as crop losses linked to pathogens remain a persistent drag on U.S. yields.

The collaboration will combine Resurrect Bio’s artificial intelligence-based trait discovery tools with Corteva’s germplasm, breeding programs and field-testing network. The companies did not disclose financial terms.

The effort builds on Corteva’s earlier investment in the London-based startup through its Catalyst platform and reflects a broader push by large seed developers to expand biological and genetic approaches to crop protection.

Rather than introducing new traits, the partners aim to identify and restore existing disease-resistance mechanisms in corn that have been weakened as pathogens evolved. Resurrect Bio’s platform analyzes molecular interactions between plants and pathogens to identify failure points in the plant immune response, which can then be modified using gene-editing techniques.

Disease pressure continues to weigh on U.S. corn output. In 2025, yield losses attributed to disease totaled about 1.29 billion bushels, according to industry data cited by the companies.

The program will focus on developing corn hybrids capable of maintaining performance under sustained disease pressure, with the potential to reduce reliance on chemical crop protection. No timeline for commercialization was disclosed.

For Corteva, the agreement adds to a pipeline of traits aimed at improving resilience as shifting weather patterns and pathogen dynamics complicate crop management. For Resurrect Bio, the partnership provides access to large-scale breeding and validation infrastructure needed to move early-stage discoveries toward field deployment.