Company Directory

Aquaculture genetics services and genomic selective breeding programmes

Xelect is a Scottish genetic services company providing selective breeding programme management and genomic analysis for aquaculture producers worldwide. The company manages over 30 active programmes across 16 species, including salmon, trout, shrimp, sea bass, and tilapia, combining high-throughput SNP genotyping with its proprietary software to optimise mating decisions and broodstock selection. Services include pedigree reconstruction, triploidy validation, sex determination, and bioeconomic modelling.

Global crop protection, seed and digital agriculture solutions provider

Corteva Agriscience UK is the British operating subsidiary of Corteva, Inc., a global agriculture company formed from the DuPont Pioneer, Dow AgroSciences and DuPont Crop Protection businesses. The company supplies Pioneer and Brevant seed varieties, crop protection products including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, and an expanding range of biological products derived from microorganisms. Corteva also provides UK farmers with agronomic support and digital agriculture tools, helping growers improve productivity while reducing reliance on synthetic inputs.

BBSRC-funded national institute for animal biosciences research

The Roslin Institute is a BBSRC-funded national institute for animal biosciences research, part of the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. Research is organised around three challenge areas: sustainable farmed animal production, infectious disease detection and prevention, and translational animal and human health. The Institute has a strong track record in translational spinout activity, including RoslinCT and Roslin Technologies, and has pioneered gene editing applications in livestock

Gene editing platform for disease-resistant, climate-resilient tropical crops

Tropic Biosciences is an agricultural biotechnology company developing gene-edited varieties of tropical crops, including banana, coffee, and rice, with a focus on disease resistance, climate resilience, and yield improvement. Its proprietary platform combines gene editing with RNA interference to redirect a plant's natural silencing mechanisms without introducing foreign DNA, enabling non-GMO classification in several markets. The platform is licensed to major agricultural companies including BASF, Corteva, and Syngenta for trait development across additional crop species.

AI platform predicting complex crop and livestock traits from RNA-Seq data

TraitSeq is an agri-biotech company providing an AI-based platform that predicts complex phenotypic traits in crops and livestock using RNA sequencing data and bespoke machine learning algorithms. The platform identifies transcriptomic biomarkers and builds predictive models for traits such as yield, disease resistance, and climate resilience, enabling agrochemical, biological input, and gene editing companies to evaluate products earlier and reduce field trial dependency. TraitSeq serves breeders, biotechs, and agrochemical researchers across plant and animal applications.

Genetically engineered insects for sustainable pest and disease vector control

Flyttr is an Oxfordshire-based biotechnology company developing biological solutions for sustainable pest management. Its core technology uses genetically engineered insects carrying a self-limiting gene to suppress populations of disease-transmitting and crop-damaging pests without chemicals or harm to non-target species. Applications span dengue and malaria vector control and agricultural pest management. The company also develops Wolbachia-based mosquito replacement and AI-powered autonomous pest surveillance systems.

Selective breeding of Black Soldier Fly for insect farming

Beta Bugs is an insect genetics company that develops and supplies genetically selected Black Soldier Fly breeds to insect farmers. Using multi-trait selective breeding and genomic selection tools developed in collaboration with the Roslin Institute, the company produces improved strains designed to increase larval yield, feed conversion, and reproductive output. Its commercial product, supplied as eggs from a dedicated production facility, serves insect protein producers supplying the animal feed, aquaculture, and pet food sectors.

AI-guided CRISPR platform developing precision-bred crop varieties

Phytoform Labs is a plant biotechnology company combining artificial intelligence and CRISPR-Cas gene editing to accelerate the development of novel crop traits. Its platform models sequence-to-function relationships across plant genomes to predict beneficial DNA variants, which are implemented as transgene-free precision edits via protoplast-based delivery. Lead programmes target tomato and potato varieties for improved yield, climate resilience, and post-harvest performance. Traits are licensed to seed breeders and food producers on a royalty basis.

Gene editing platform restoring disease resistance in crop species

Resurrect Bio is a plant biotechnology company developing disease-resistant crops through a proprietary gene editing platform. Using computational biology and high-throughput plant screening, the company identifies and restores native resistance genes that have been suppressed by pathogens or lost through selective breeding. Resurrect Bio licenses its trait discoveries to seed breeders, providing precise genetic targets for gene editing or conventional breeding to deliver durable, low-input crop protection.

Graph AI platform for crop gene target discovery and precision breeding

Biographica is a London agbiotech developing a graph machine learning platform to identify and validate gene editing targets for crop improvement. The platform integrates genomic, transcriptomic, and scientific literature data within knowledge graphs, combining in silico modelling with in vivo validation at Rothamsted Research to pinpoint genomic modifications that enhance yield, climate resilience, nutritional content, and disease resistance. The company serves seed and trait R&D organisations seeking to accelerate and de-risk crop gene editing programmes.

AI-driven platform engineering better crop varieties

Wild Bioscience is an agricultural biotechnology company developing next-generation crop varieties using a platform that combines evolutionary biology with machine learning. By mining genetic variation in wild plant relatives, the company identifies and designs gene edits targeting traits including nitrogen use efficiency, yield, and climate resilience. Traits are developed as proprietary intellectual property and licensed to seed breeders for integration into commercial germplasm. Current programmes span wheat, maize, and soy.

Gene-edited crop traits for yield under climate stress

ALORA is an agricultural biotechnology company developing gene-edited crop traits that redirect plant energy from stress defence to yield. Using multiplex gene editing, the company targets regulatory pathways controlling how plants respond to heat, salinity, and drought, aiming to increase productivity across growing conditions without introducing foreign DNA. Its lead work is in rice, with controlled environment and open-field trials conducted at Norwich Research Park in collaboration with the John Innes Centre.