GreenLight Biosciences and the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, have announced an agreement to develop a solution to fall armyworm, which causes more than USD 2 billion in annual global crop loss. The partnership includes an Australian government grant to QUT of more than AUD 400,000 from the Australian Research Council. It brings together the teams of two preeminent researchers, Dr. Julia Bally and Professor Peter Waterhouse from the QUT Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, and GreenLight's Plant Health research and development team.

The partnership aims to develop a solution for fall armyworm, a pest of national priority in Australia. It is also a point of emphasis that the project delivers environmentally-friendly crop protection tools against fall armyworm. GreenLight's plant health division is working on producing RNA-based solutions for a variety of fungi and insects that cause massive food loss and crop damage annually.

In lab tests and field trials, GreenLight's RNA-based solutions leave low or no residues. Dr. Bally said previous collaboration on fall armyworm with GreenLight had been important to securing the grant from the Australian Research Council this year. The project will begin with lab studies and advance to greenhouse and field trials.