Tree vaccines and gene-edited butterflies among biotechnology projects funded by UK ‘invention agency’

Exclusive: The tax-funded research aims to protect British wildlife from the human-caused climate crisis

Vaccines for ash trees, skin treatments for newts and gene-edited swallowtail butterflies are among 14 tax-funded projects from the UK's invention agency" aiming to accelerate nature's ability to adapt to the climate crisis.

The 54m accelerated adaptation programme from the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) - a public body that funds high-risk, high-reward tech projects - aims to investigate applications of biotechnology that can speed up wild species' evolution and help them to adapt to new threats such as global warming and disease.