Friedberg describes successfully turning off DNA reduction in sex cells to preserve complete genomes in crops.
“The idea was we could turn off the process that causes the fusion, the reduction of the DNA, and have it have all the DNA. And so we did this. It started to work.”
Friedberg explains boosted breeding creates tetraploid true seed in potato, enabling higher yields through genetic uniformity.
“In our system, we can actually combine two hybrid or two kind of genetically distinct diploid potato to make a tetraploid offspring, but all the seed is tetraploid.”
Friedberg describes genome language models that can predict plant phenotypes from specific trait requirements like 90-day corn.
“I can now build models that some people are calling genome language models or, you know, whatever you wanna call them that can be predictive of a phenotype.”
Friedberg explains that a single potato plant produces 12,000 genetically distinct seeds, preventing traditional seed use.
“So while a potato might make 12,000 seed from the flowers that grow out of that potato, every single one of those seed is genetically different.”