The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has announced an $11 million commitment to a research program at the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) that uses CRISPR genome editing to enhance the natural ability of plants and soil microbes to both capture and store carbon from the atmosphere. 

The IGI project aims to enhance the natural carbon-removal abilities of living organisms to meet the scale of the climate change problem. The program is the latest recipient of CZI's investments in the development of promising technologies to help address climate change and one of the first to apply CRISPR genome editing to the worldwide carbon dioxide removal effort. In addition to carbon removal, the team anticipates other benefits such as improving the efficiency of photosynthesis, which could translate into higher crop yields and reduced needs for fertilizer and irrigation, all of which could prove helpful to a growing population on a warming planet. 

“Climate change is the most serious problem facing the world today, with impacts on hunger, spread of disease, biodiversity, the global economy, and nearly every aspect of human life,” said IGI founder and Nobel Prize laureate Jennifer Doudna. “We’ve understood for some years that CRISPR genome editing could be used to help agriculture adapt to climate change. It’s a thrilling new step to apply the same toolkit to carbon removal and address climate change directly.”

“We’re excited to support the Innovative Genomics Institute’s important research into new applications of gene-editing technology,” said CZI co-founder and co-CEO Priscilla Chan. “This technology has the potential to supercharge the natural abilities of plants, enabling them to pull more carbon out of the atmosphere and store more carbon in their roots and the surrounding soil—providing a new set of innovative tools to address climate change.” 

(Photo credit: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)