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ClimateQuiet 3d · day 3

UK funds 14 biotech projects to gene-edit butterflies, trees for climate adaptation

Aria's £30m accelerated adaptation programme uses vaccines and CRISPR to speed up wild species' evolution amid climate crisis.

newest coverage 2d agosummary written 1d ago6 pieces17 likes & upvotes MastodonNewswires

What to know

  • Aria is funding 14 biotechnology projects with £30m to use gene-editing and synthetic biology to help wild species adapt to climate change faster than evolution naturally allows.
  • Projects include CRISPR-edited swallowtail butterflies resistant to farm insecticides, ash tree vaccines, and oak trees genetically modified to reproduce in months instead of decades.
  • The approach remains globally contested: 250 scientists back synthetic biology's conservation potential, while 90+ NGOs warned the IUCN last year that gene-editing risks irreversibly altering natural systems unpredictably.
  • Aria itself faces scrutiny over previous geoengineering grants and chair Matt Clifford's recent departure over a conflict of interest with Anthropic.

“The world's natural environments are changing so rapidly owing to the climate crisis and human pressures that many species can no longer adapt quickly enough.”

Yannick Wurm, Director, Accelerated Adaptation Programme · The Guardian ↗ · Sep 20

Yannick Wurm Director, Accelerated Adaptation Programme at AriaDominic Cummings Founder, Advanced Research and Invention AgencyMatt Clifford Chair, Advanced Research and Invention AgencyAdvanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) UK public body funding high-risk, high-reward tech projects

UK funds 14 biotech projects to gene-edit butterflies, trees for climate adaptation
theguardian.com

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

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Sep 22yesterdaynow · 12:58 AM ET
  1. 1

    Aria announces £30m accelerated adaptation programme with 14 projects

    The UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) announced 14 biotechnology projects receiving an initial £30m in grants over two years. Projects include vaccines for ash trees, gene-edited swallowtail butterflies to resist insecticides, skin treatments for newts, and rapid-reproducing oak trees designed to adapt to drought and invasive pathogens.

    “This cohort is a first exploration of how we can harness some of the powers of biotechnology to responsibly help wild animals and plants to overcome challenges they face.”
    — Yannick Wurm
    1. 4 outlets Vaccines for ash trees and gene-edited butterflies among UK projects to get £30m funding

      first by Mastodon, 2d ago · also Guardian Environment, Guardian, Guardian Science

      1 more headline
  2. background

    IUCN congress debates synthetic biology for conservation — At the International Union for Conservation of Nature's world conservation congress, more than 90 NGOs raised concerns that biotechnology and gene-editing techniques will irreversibly alter natural systems with unpredictable effects. A proposed ban was narrowly rejected after 250 scientists signed an open letter highlighting the potential benefits of synthetic biology.