Pairwise is agriculture's plant CRISPR powerhouse

Durham, NC — Pairwise, a global innovator in precision breeding, today announced that CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, has signed a commercial license to Pairwise's Fulcrum® platform. The agreement is among the broadest licenses Pairwise has issued to date, covering plants, livestock, aquaculture, and microbes — putting Fulcrum's advanced gene editing capabilities directly in the hands of researchers across one of the world's largest and most diverse scientific research organizations.

CSIRO's mission spans the full breadth of Australian science and .this agreement ensures that researchers have access to the Fulcrum® suite of CRISPR-based tools, including the SHARC™ enzyme, to accelerate discovery and innovation across a wide range of organisms and applications.

Dr Jason Geijskes, Trait Innovation Group Leader said CSIRO has a long history of delivering on farm impact in Australian agriculture systems through application of advanced breeding tools and technologies.

“Access to the Fulcrum® platform of precision breeding technologies will support the rapid development of traits which improve farm productivity and sustainability, and have direct benefits for consumers, across Australia and globally.”

"We are proud to announce this agreement with CSIRO, which will enable some of the world's most talented researchers to harness Fulcrum® across an extraordinary range of applications,” said Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise. “The scope of this license is a reflection of just how versatile precision gene editing has become to address so many challenges.”

The Pairwise Fulcrum® platform includes gene editing tools, enzymes, and trait libraries that enable precise, targeted modifications across a wide range of organisms —accelerating scientific discovery and the development of solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.

About Pairwise

Pairwise is agriculture's gene editing powerhouse, building a healthier world through partnership and plant innovation. Co-founded by the inventors of CRISPR, our Fulcrum® Platform accelerates the development of climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops. As trusted partners to global industry leaders and nonprofit institutions, we help breeders move faster while transforming food and agriculture for farmers, consumers, and the planet. Founded in 2017 and based in Durham, NC, Pairwise is committed to delivering innovation that makes food easier to grow and better to eat. For more information, visit www.pairwise.com

Pairwise today announced it has been named No. 1 on the FoodTech 500 (2025) by Forward Fooding. The annual ranking identifies the most innovative global companies at the convergence of food, technology, and sustainability, selected from over 1,200 submissions spanning 87 countries.

"The FoodTech 500 recognizes companies solving real problems in the food system, and that's precisely what Pairwise is doing. We're bringing the most powerful crop improvement tools in history to the crops and partners that need them most," said Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise.

To read more, visit: https://forwardfooding.com/foodtech500/company/pairwise/

Pairwise today announced it has been named No. 26 on TIME Magazine’s America’s Top GreenTech Companies of 2026. The ranking recognizes the top 250 U.S.-based companies shaping the future of sustainable business and environmental innovation. Statista gathered and scrutinized data from over 3,500 companies, and awarded the top 250 based on three evaluation criteria:

Positive Environmental Impact: To assess a company’s positive environmental impact, Statista partnered with The Upright Project to quantify the holistic impact of a company’s product and service portfolio, including its alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).

Financial Strength: For the evaluation of financial strength, Statista analyzed revenue, employee and funding data, obtained from publicly available sources like annual reports, company websites, through media monitoring, and via databases.

Innovation Drive: For the innovation drive, Statista cooperated with LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions to analyze the quantity and impact of a company’s IP (intellectual property) portfolio.

"Being named to TIME's list is a meaningful recognition of what this team has built," said Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise. "The opportunity in permanent crops is massive, and Pairwise is demonstrating what becomes possible when the best CRISPR tools, AI and machine learning, and decades of breeding knowledge converge at the same moment. We are driving a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a healthier world by making plants easier to grow and eat, and the moment to do that is now."

To read the full list, visit: https://time.com/7344228/americas-top-greentech-companies-of-2025/