Agragene Selected for USDA Grand Challenge and FFAR Grants to Combat New World Screwworm
What's the deal? St. Louis-based AgrageneDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has secured grants from the United States Department of AgricultureDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s New World Screwworm Grand Challenge and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture ResearchDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Both grants fund further research on the company's insect sterility technology, designed to combat the resurgent flesh-eating pest.
Agragene uses precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT), a CRISPR-based method that produces healthy, sterile male flies to mate with wild females and crash screwworm populations.
Why now? The New World screwworm is resurging, threatening livestock and ranchers across the Americas.
"In talking with ranchers, it's clear they need improved tools," said chief executive officer Bryan Witherbee. He called pgSIT a "cost-effective, scalable platform."
Both grants came through competitive processes; the USDA challenge alone drew hundreds of submissions.
What could go wrong? The technology still needs development and regulatory clearance before it can be deployed at scale.
Agragene is betting its prior pgSIT and regulatory experience will speed things up. "Agragene's experience in pgSIT development and regulatory work will be a key advantage to bring this technology forward rapidly," Witherbee said.
The signal: For early-stage Agragene, which develops sterile male insects to replace chemical pesticides for crop pest control, the competitive USDA and FFAR backing signals growing institutional confidence in CRISPR-based biocontrol as a complement to traditional eradication methods. Pairing the startup with researchers at North Carolina State, Indiana University, and Notre Dame underscores how public institutions are turning to genetic platforms to address the screwworm's resurgence across the Americas.
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