A pipeline advancing SwitchBlade across major crops and disease targets.
PRODUCT PIPELINE
Upstream is developing a portfolio of seed traits powered by SwitchBlade. Programs span multiple crops and stages of development, progressing from discovery through field validation and partner development.
From target selection to commercial development.
SWITCHBLADE PIPELINE
Upstream is advancing a portfolio of seed-based trait programs through discovery, proof of concept, field validation, and partner development. Each program is designed around a clear biological target, a crop-development path, and a partner-led route into elite or commercial germplasm.
Development Path: A disciplined path from biological discovery to commercial partnership.
DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE
Discovery
Target selection, switch design, construct development, and early biological validation.
Proof of concept
Greenhouse and controlled-environment testing to evaluate trait expression and stress-response behavior.
Field validation
Small-plot and expanded field trials to assess performance under real agricultural conditions.
Elite germplasm integration
Partnering with seed companies to integrate SwitchBlade into elite or commercial germplasm and drive partner-selected genes of interest.
Partner-led commercialization
Regulatory work, go-to-market planning, product launch, and commercial deployment are led by the seed-company partner; Upstream supports the SwitchBlade technology package and data transfer.
PRESENTATIVE PROGRAMS
Programs advancing through validation and partnership.
FIELD VALIDATION
Soybean disease-resistance trait
Seed-based disease-resistance trait development with small-plot field trials initiated in June 2024.
FOCUS
Disease resistance
CURRENT MILESTONE
Small-plot field trials
NEXT OBJECTIVE
Expanded validation and partner data package
PARTNER DEVELOPMENT
Tomato disease-resilience program
Tomato-focused trait development designed to combine premium quality characteristics with broad-spectrum disease-resistance potential.
FOCUS
Specialty crop resilience
PARTNER CONTEXT
Sanitized partner-development program
OBJECTIVE
High-quality tomato varieties with improved disease resilience
EFFICACY TRIALS
Rice disease-resilience program
Rice-focused programs targeting major diseases including rice blast and rice blight, advancing through efficacy evaluation with partner development planned as data mature.
FOCUS
Rice blast and rice blight
CURRENT MILESTONE
Efficacy trials
NEXT OBJECTIVE
Partner development and product advancement
DISCOVERY / PROOF OF CONCEPT
Platform expansion programs
Additional crop-disease and stress-resilience targets designed to extend RNA SwitchBlade logic across new crops, trait constructs, and partner-defined commercial priorities.
FOCUS
Pipeline expansion
DEVELOPMENT PATH
Greenhouse and controlled-environment testing
PARTNER FIT
Seed companies and crop technology partners
PARTNERING
Built for seed-company collaboration.
Upstream works with partners across the crop-development cycle, from early target selection through greenhouse evaluation, field validation, and transfer into seed-company germplasm programs. We are especially interested in collaborations where SwitchBlade can regulate partner-selected genes of interest in elite or commercial germplasm.
Technology evaluation
Assess RNA SwitchBlade performance against defined crop targets.
Trait collaboration
Co-develop disease-resistance or stress-resilience traits.
Greenhouse and field testing
Generate performance data in controlled and real-world environments.
Partner-led commercialization
Seed-company partners lead regulatory strategy, go-to-market planning, product launch, and grower-facing commercialization.