Platform

A delivery system for plant immunity

KaaraGen pairs sequence-specific RNA with a mineral shell that survives the field. This is what happens between the sprayer and the storage root.

Step 01: Application

Delivered with equipment growers already own

Streak Silencer ships as an aqueous concentrate. It goes on standing crop through a conventional knapsack or boom sprayer, or stem cuttings are immersed in it before planting so the block is protected from day one.

  • No new capital equipment for the outgrower
  • Two protocols cover both standing crop and new planting
  • Mixed and applied on the same pass as routine field work
FOLIAR SPRAYSTEM SOAKOne aqueous concentrate, two field protocols

Step 02: Protection

A mineral shell that outlasts the sun

Naked RNA degrades within hours under tropical UV and washes off in the first rain. Ours is adsorbed onto layered double hydroxide nanocrystals, the BioClay matrix, which shield the cargo and then release it as ambient humidity dissolves the lattice.

  • Shields nucleic acid cargo from UV photolysis and rain wash-off
  • Humidity-driven release targeting a 20+ day biological half-life
  • Dissolves to its mineral constituents; no synthetic residue
UV LOADRAIN WASHBioClayLDH NANOCRYSTALHumidity-driven controlled releaseDAY 0DAY 10DAY 20+

Step 03: Silencing

The plant's own defence, pointed at the right target

The released double-stranded RNA triggers the host RNA interference pathway. The plant recognises and degrades matching viral transcripts before the virus can move systemically into the storage root, where the damage that costs the factory actually happens.

  • Sequence motifs optimised against local UCBSV isolates
  • Screened off-target: inert to other plants, insects, livestock and people
  • Transient: nothing heritable, nothing inserted into the genome
PLANT CELLViral RNADelivered dsRNAMATCHED TO UCBSVInert fragmentsThe virus is degraded before it can move to the storage root

Step 04: Deployment

Sold into the corridor, not the roadside

Protection is contracted through the processor and applied across aggregated outgrower blocks, so the party that carries the cost of rejected tubers is the party that buys the protection. Field metrics tie back to weighbridge outcomes.

  • Contracted per hectare through the processor
  • Applied across aggregated outgrower blocks
  • Audited against starch extraction rate and rejection rate
Outgrower blocksStem nurseriesWeighbridgeStarch processorAgronomy auditKaaraGenPROTECTION LAYER

Why it works

Stop breeding for resistance. Start delivering it.

Conventional resistance breeding takes seven to ten years to produce a single variety. A factory running short of raw material this season cannot wait for that.

Programmable, not permanent

The active agent is a double-stranded RNA sequence. Retarget it against a new viral strain by changing the sequence, not by restarting a breeding programme.

Non-transgenic by design

Nothing is inserted into the plant genome. The signal is transient, which keeps the product outside GMO registration pathways in most regional frameworks.

Shielded against the field

Naked RNA degrades within hours under tropical sun and rain. Ours is anchored inside a BioClay layered-double-hydroxide matrix that releases it gradually.

One pass, three weeks

Controlled release from the mineral shell sustains protection on the leaf surface for over 20 days, matching realistic spray intervals for outgrower blocks.

Species-specific

Sequences are matched to the viral strains driving root necrosis locally, and screened off-target: inert to other plants, insects, livestock and people.

Fits existing equipment

An aqueous concentrate applied with standard knapsack or boom sprayers, or as a pre-planting soak for stem cuttings. No new capital for the grower.

Specification

Functional parameters

Sequence data and formulation chemistry are held as trade secrets. The system operates under the following functional parameters.

Mechanism of action
Exogenous dsRNA triggers the host RNA interference pathway, priming sequence-specific degradation of viral transcripts before systemic movement to the storage root.
Target specificity
Sequence motifs optimised in silico against local Ugandan Cassava Brown Streak Virus (UCBSV) isolates, with host and non-target screening across the regional agro-ecology.
Encapsulation
Aqueous layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanocrystal suspension, the BioClay matrix, adsorbs the nucleic acid cargo and shields it from UV photolysis and rain wash-off.
Release kinetics
Ambient humidity drives gradual dissolution of the mineral lattice, targeting a sustained biological half-life beyond 20 days under simulated tropical field conditions.
Application
Foliar spray onto standing crop with conventional equipment, or pre-planting immersion of stem cuttings to establish protection from day one.
Regulatory posture
No heritable modification and no transgene insertion; positioned for biopesticide rather than GMO registration pathways across regional biosafety frameworks.

Secure your supply corridor before the next harvest.

If you run a processing facility, fund early biotech, or work on cassava in East Africa, we would like to hear from you.

Request the technical brief