This week, Google’s experimental division, known as X or the “moonshot factory,” unveiled its latest creation. Heritable Agriculture is a startup leveraging data and machine learning technologies to revolutionize crop cultivation.
In a recent blog post released on Tuesday, the company emphasized the remarkable efficiency of plants, stating, “Plants are solar-powered, carbon-negative, self-assembling machines that thrive on sunlight and water,” according to Heritable.
However, agriculture poses a significant burden on the Earth, contributing to approximately 25% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. It is the leading consumer of groundwater and can result in soil erosion, along with water pollution caused by fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals.
The newly independent startup is tackling these challenges by applying Google’s strengths in artificial intelligence and machine learning. While data gathering is relatively straightforward, the real challenge lies in turning that data into practical guidance for farmers to help modernize the millennia-old agricultural industry.
Heritable Agriculture was founded by CEO Brad Zamft, who has a PhD in physics and previously held positions as a program officer and fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He later served as the chief scientific officer for a venture-backed startup, TL Biolabs, before joining Google X in late 2018, where he quickly assumed leadership of the Heritable project.
Zamft shared with TechCrunch that he was given the freedom to explore various innovative ideas, provided they had the potential for Google-scale success. “The focus on optimizing plant growth resonated with the leadership and we successfully navigated the challenging process at Google X,” he explained.
Through machine learning, Heritable examines plant genomes to identify combinations that might enhance crop yields. Zamft exemplified this by stating, “By understanding these genomes, crops can be bred with eco-friendly traits to boost yields, reduce water dependency, and enhance carbon storage capacity in the soil and roots.”
The company developed models tested on countless plants within a “specialized growth chamber” at their Bay Area base. Additionally, field assessments were conducted in California, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.
Zamft also noted that gene editing technologies like CRISPR might eventually enable the creation of “programmable” plants. However, at this stage, Heritable is concentrating on traditional breeding methods.
“Currently, we’re not focused on gene-edited plants, and genetic modification isn’t part of our agenda,” Zamft clarified. “While gene editing could be in our future, we currently see a pressing need to identify optimal breeding candidates and enhance traditional breeding practices — that is, crossing parent plants rather than using biotechnology to create hybrids.”
The team’s immediate agenda is to bring their technology to market. Zamft did not disclose any specific timelines or commercial partnerships but mentioned that Heritable has successfully secured a seed funding round led by FTW Ventures, Mythos Ventures, and SVG Ventures.
Google is also among the investors, possessing an undisclosed equity stake in the burgeoning firm.
Last January, Google cut dozens of positions at X as part of its broader workforce reductions. Under Astro Teller’s leadership, the innovation lab has become more proactive in spinning off ventures like Heritable.
Update: Revised on 2/2 to clarify the remarks concerning GMOs.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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