Bringing Back Florida Citrus

With support from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) and the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research Programs, Soilcea has developed citrus trees resistant to Huanglongbing (HLB or citrus greening). Since its discovery in Florida in 2005, HLB has killed over 50 million trees, resulted in over 33,000 jobs lost, cost the state more than $20 billion in lost revenue, and slashed citrus production by a staggering 95%—from 300 million boxes to 14 million.

CRISPR Precision Breeding

Mirroring the evolutionary process of gradual adaptation and natural selection, Soilcea is using CRISPR to bring back Florida’s citrus. Backed by funding from the USDA HLB Multi-Agency Coordinating (MAC) Group and Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension (ECDRE), Soilcea’s new citrus varieties are demonstrating significantly reduced disease levels and vigorous growth in the field. The image below shows the striking difference: a robust, HLB-resistant Soilcea tree compared to a struggling control tree, both planted at the same time.  

Team

Yianni Lagos, JD/CFA

President & CFO

Bio

Dusica Coltrane 

Protoplast Scientist

Bio

Quinton Allen, PhD

Senior Scientist

Bio

Ron Edwards

Business Advisor

Bio

Jacob Zobrist, PhD

Scientist

Brendan Mormile, PhD

Scientist

Lindsey Logan

Lab Technician

Ron English

Citrus Grower

Keval Patel

Lab Technician

Cecilia Calabi Villarroel

Lab Technician

Ava Turchiarolo

Lab Technician

Alydia White

Research Associate

Elizabeth Newmiller

Lab Technician

Andrew Dill

Greenhouse Grower

Advisory Board

 

Ron Edwards

President and CEO of Evans Properties

Dr. Harold Browning

President of Premier Citrus Apz

Dave Crumbly

Vice President, Agricltural Services at Florida's Natural Growers

Fran Becker

Senior Vice President of Peace River Citrus Products

Clay Pederson

Managing Director of Agromillora Florida

 

 

Contact

yianni@soilcea.com

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