Resurrect Bio

Resurrect Bio is a London-based agricultural biotechnology company, spun out of The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, UK, that develops genetic disease-resistance traits for crops. Its approach targets plant NLR immune receptor proteins: pathogens secrete effector proteins that bind NLRs and suppress the crop's immune response, and Resurrect Bio identifies those interactions and determines the small edits to native plant genes — in some cases a single amino acid change at the binding site of a helper protein — that break the binding and restore immunity. The company describes its traits as containing as few as one DNA change and no foreign DNA, drawing on resistance mechanisms already present in the crop's own immune system, wild relatives and heritage varieties.

The platform rests on three pillars: FloraFold, a proprietary protein-protein interaction AI prediction tool trained on plant-pathogen interactions; rapid in-silico and in-planta high-throughput screening that validates predicted hits; and the "Resurrection" step that specifies the edits restoring immunity. The company states this workflow finds traits up to 5x faster than traditional methods, and its technology page cites 10x faster target identification through rapid in-planta screening. The company positions the resulting genetic resistance as an alternative to fungicides and pesticides, citing precision targeting, no chemical leakage into soil or water, no petroleum-derived inputs, added resistance alleles for breeding programmes, and durability. Work spans fungal disease, oomycetes and nematodes, and the company says it can work with almost any crop, most pathogens and many pests. Early work demonstrated resistance to potato cyst nematode; the company has since worked across multiple crops including corn and spinach.

The underlying technology was developed by Prof. Sophien Kamoun and his lab at The Sainsbury Laboratory, Prof. Tolga Bozkurt at Imperial College London, and Dr Cian Duggan, and is described as patented. Published scientific underpinnings cited by the company include Contreras et al., "Resurrection of plant disease resistance proteins via helper NLR bioengineering," Science Advances 9, eadg3861 (2023), and Derevnina et al., PLOS Biology 19(8): e3001136 (2021).

Founding story

Resurrect Bio was spun out of The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) in Norwich, UK in December 2021, founded by Prof. Sophien Kamoun (TSL group leader), Prof. Tolga Bozkurt (Imperial College London) and Dr Cian Duggan, who serves as CEO. It was built on fundamental research into plant NLR immune receptors conducted in the Kamoun lab and by Bozkurt and Duggan, including work on resurrecting plant disease resistance proteins through helper NLR bioengineering.

Business model

Resurrect Bio discovers and validates disease-resistance trait targets and licenses or partners them to seed companies and breeders, primarily through joint development agreements. It does not perform the gene editing itself: it supplies partners with precise instructions on where and how to edit their own germplasm, describing its output as a template for seed companies to implement, with editing technologies such as CRISPR applied by the partner.

Commercialisation is through partnerships and joint development agreements with seed companies and breeders, and trait licensing (the company has recruited for a Senior Partnerships Manager for trait licensing).

Traction

Series A closed oversubscribed at $10.3M in May 2026 (initial $8.1M close in February 2026), with approximately $12.4M raised since founding including a 2023 seed round. Commercial traction includes a joint development agreement with Corteva Agriscience on corn diseases in the US (March 2026) and a collaboration with Bejo on spinach downy mildew (July 2026). The team listed on the company site numbers around 20 people, with active hiring in 2026. Recognition includes shortlisting for the Falling Walls Foundation Top 100 science startups to watch 2026 and selection for EIT Food's RisingFoodStars 2026 cohort, a second year in the programme.

Latest developments

In 2026 the company completed its oversubscribed $10.3M Series A (May), announced the Corteva Agriscience corn collaboration (March) and the Bejo spinach downy mildew collaboration (July), commented on the European Parliament's adoption of the New Genomic Techniques (NGT) Regulation (June), was shortlisted by the Falling Walls Foundation among the Top 100 science startups to watch 2026 (July), and joined EIT Food's RisingFoodStars 2026 cohort of 18 European scaleups (July). Funds from the Series A are being used to expand the team and scale the FloraFold AI, high-throughput functional biology and Resurrection platforms.