Synthetic Biology: A Sustainable Future For Crop Protection Molecules

Chemically synthesised crop protection molecules (think: pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides) developed in the 20^th century underpinned the increases in crop yield and resilience that provided much of the world's population with a ready supply of plentiful and affordable food.

Fast-forward to the 2020s and the outlook is less promising. Climate change and altered weather patterns are increasing disease burdens globally and supporting the incursion of invasive pest species into new areas. Confounding this, resistance is an increasingly common issue with - depending on who you talk to - few or no new mechanisms of action discovered for decades.

Discovering new crop protection molecules that address these challenges faces regulatory hurdles and the multi-step synthesis processes often required to access unexplored chemical spaces raises a tension between the introduction of improved compounds and the desperate need to decarbonise an energy-intensive industry.