Key Takeaways:
- Resurrect Bio and Corteva have signed a joint development agreement to address economically devastating diseases affecting U.S. corn production.
- The partnership follows Corteva's Series A investment in Resurrect Bio through its Corteva Catalyst platform.
- The company's FloraFold® AI and in planta screening platform identify and restore innate disease resistance genes suppressed by evolving pathogens.
- In 2025, disease reduced corn yield for American farmers by an estimated 1.287 billion bushels.
- The collaboration aims to deliver elite corn varieties that require fewer chemical inputs while maintaining performance under high disease pressure.
Resurrect Bio and Corteva Join Forces on Corn Disease Resistance
Resurrect Bio, a biotechnology company focused on crop genetic defenses, and Corteva, a global agriculture technology company, have announced a joint development agreement targeting diseases affecting corn production in the United States. The agreement follows Corteva's recent Series A investment in Resurrect Bio through its Corteva Catalyst platform.
The Science Behind Resurrect Bio's Approach
Targeting the Plant-Pathogen Interaction
Rather than optimizing gene expression or introducing new genes, Resurrect Bio's platform focuses on the evolutionary dynamic between plants and pathogens. Many modern crops retain the genetic machinery to defend themselves, but pathogens have developed proteins that specifically disable these internal defenses.
Resurrect Bio uses its FloraFold® AI and in planta rapid screening platform to model protein-to-protein interactions at the molecular level. By identifying the precise point at which a pathogen overcomes a plant's defense, the company aims to restore the plant's resistance so the pathogen can no longer bypass it.
“We aren't just looking to make plants slightly better; we are looking to restore an ancestral resilience that pathogens have spent centuries trying to suppress. By fixing these broken immune receptors, we provide farmers with a durable, biological shield against corn's most persistent threats,” said Dr. Cian Duggan, CEO and Co-Founder of Resurrect Bio.
The Scale of the Problem
Corn Disease Losses in the United States
In 2025, disease reduced corn yield for American farmers by an estimated 1.287 billion bushels. The partnership combines Resurrect Bio's high-throughput trait development with Corteva's germplasm resources and trial networks, with the goal of delivering corn varieties that perform under high disease pressure while reducing reliance on chemical inputs.
What Corteva Brings to the Agreement
Genlytix™ Ecosystem and Genetics Resources
Corteva's contribution to the partnership includes access to its Genlytix™ ecosystem and its genetics and breeding infrastructure.
“By leveraging the contributions of Resurrect Bio's FloraFold® AI platform with our industry-leading Genlytix™ ecosystem and our world class genetics resources, we're excited about the new solutions this collaboration can deliver for U.S. corn farmers. We are committed to discovering novel and natural pathways that can help farmers mitigate the threats posed by these devastating diseases, both now and into the future,” said Wendy Srnic, Vice President of Biotechnology at Corteva.
Resurrect Bio's Computational Capabilities
FloraFold® AI in Action
Dr. Doko-Miles Thornburn, Lead Computational Biologist, described the role of the company's AI platform in the collaboration.
“Our FloraFold® AI allows us to see the battlefield of plant disease in 3D. Working with Corteva allows us to apply those insights at scale, ensuring that the next generation of corn is equipped with a defense system that is native, robust, and broad-spectrum,” Thornburn said.
Dr. Duggan also noted the significance of the agreement for Resurrect Bio's trajectory: “This Joint Development Agreement marks a pivotal shift for Resurrect Bio as we move our technology closer to the field with a leader like Corteva.”
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