The PERSEPHONE program, funded by ARPA-E, aims to develop groundbreaking technologies for bioenergy crop genetic engineering. Bioenergy currently accounts for about 5% of domestic energy consumption, with the potential to contribute 5-10% more. However, achieving this requires transformative advances in genetic engineering tools. This program will support the development of high-performance tools for bioenergy crop engineering, novel genetic engineering modalities, and biocontainment solutions. The initiative targets technologies that could yield at least 1 quad of energy production or mitigate over 60 MT of carbon dioxide equivalents annually.

PERSEPHONE will fund projects in three categories: (A) developing robust genetic engineering tools that improve efficiency and reduce costs, (B) supporting revolutionary genetic engineering technologies, and (C) advancing biocontainment technologies to minimize environmental risks. The program encourages multidisciplinary collaboration across synthetic biology, bioengineering, plant genomics, robotics, and machine learning. If successful, these innovations could accelerate bioenergy crop development for applications such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), nitrogen management, and energy-efficient materials.