Entrepreneur to Help Bring Disease-Resistant Potatoes to Market
Last year, commercial partner, BioPotatoes (BioP), received investment from TSL Ventures to accelerate development of disease-resistant potato varieties in the UK. BioP has worked closely with the Jonathan Jones group and their project on developing late blight resistance in potatoes for many years.
Dr Sasha Eremina, our new Entrepreneur-in-Residence at TSL Ventures, will play a key role in supporting BioP's innovation pipeline, ensuring current and future products address the market needs. Sasha has valuable experience in biotech VC which she'll be able to capitalise on to drive the development of commercially-attractive products at BioP.
Sasha says: ‘It is an exciting time to join TSL’s long-lasting project on addressing potato diseases. The new Precision Breeding Act will allow us to utilize our technology in England for the first time. The most popular potato variety in the UK, Maris Piper, was developed in the 1960s, and we at BioP are at the forefront of bringing the long-awaited disease protection to reinforce it. It is time to use biology instead of chemistry to protect our crops. It will be both more cost-effective and better for the environment. ‘
A Smarter Way to Grow: The Push for Disease-Resistant Potatoes
Disease resistance is being introduced to several UK-favoured potato varieties, beginning with Maris Piper and Charlotte. These will have many advantages to farmers if approved for market under the Precision Breeding Act:
- They will be resistant to late blight races currently circulating in the UK, reducing the need to spray for late blight control (though some sprays may still be needed against early blight, a fungal disease).
- Their resistance to Potato Virus Y and Potato Leaf Roll Virus will mean it will be much easier to produce seed potatoes in England, with fewer insecticides applied to restrict viral transmission by aphids, reducing the need to produce seed potatoes in Scotland.
- Seed potato production in England will reduce CO2 emissions and costs from transportation of seed potatoes from Scotland to growing areas in England.
BioP's variety pipeline planned for the disease-resistant potatoes.
BioP also joined Norwich Research Park as a virtual tenant at the Centrum, finding its place amongst many other biotech startups on the Park.
‘Norwich is the place to be for plant biotech startups.' says Sasha, 'Joining NRP gives BioP access to world-leading talent in plant science and agriculture and to local funding opportunities intended to accelerate our impact. New to plant immunology myself, I can attest to unique growth opportunities for individuals and businesses working this space in the region.’
The Anglia Innovation Partnership, who manages the Norwich Research Park, have provided a £30 000 grant to support the next potato field trial. Over the last 12 months, researchers in the Jonathan Jones group produced >100 additional lines of Maris Piper and Charlotte that will be evaluated in the field in Norwich this summer. BioP and the Jonathan Jones group are confident that the 2024 and 2025 field evaluations will allow them to identify the best lines for PiperPlus and CharlottePlus to be brought to market.
