MIT-Led Team Wins Up to $53 Million for AI-Designed Weed Killers
Updated
Updated · MIT News · Nov 10
MIT-Led Team Wins Up to $53 Million for AI-Designed Weed Killers
1 articles · Updated · MIT News · Nov 10
Summary
$53 million from ARPA-H will fund MIT and partner institutions to build next-generation weed killers with generative AI, aiming to improve efficacy while reducing risks to human health.
More than 1 billion pounds of herbicide are used annually in the U.S., but resistance to products such as glyphosate and atrazine is rising and exposure has been linked to cancer, metabolic and endocrine risks.
The PLOW project will use AI to generate billions of chemical and siRNA candidates, then screen them in labs and greenhouse trials; first greenhouse tests of initial RNAi candidates are due by the end of year one.
Researchers will also engineer microbes to break down agrochemicals before they reach food, soil or waterways, while seeking alternatives that could reduce reliance on imported phosphorus used in major herbicides.
As superweeds outsmart traditional chemicals, can generative AI and species-specific genetic silencing save global agriculture from catastrophic crop failures?
Could AI-designed RNAi weed killers accidentally trigger unforeseen ecological disasters, or are they the ultimate cure for herbicide-resistant superweeds?
Will MIT's $53M gamble on engineered soil microbes successfully neutralize toxic agrochemicals before they silently infiltrate our food and water supply?