Bayer buys into protein-enhanced chickpea

Bayer is investing in NuCicer, a Davis, California–based firm with a proprietary genomic breeding platform that can create chickpeas with 75% more protein than standard chickpea varieties. NuCicer plans to use the funds to bring its chickpeas to the market in 2023. Bayer expects the start-up’s technology to reduce production costs for chickpea protein by 50% and lead to varieties that are more resilient to climate change. The technology is based on research by Douglas Cook, professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Davis. Cook is also a NuCicer cofounder and its chief science officer.