Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003470
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has posted a Request for Information (RFI) titled "Plant Genetic Engineering for Energy Applications" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0003470). This notice is strictly an information-gathering request and not a funding opportunity. It is not accepting applications, it does not offer financial assistance, and it does not constitute a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). In other words, ARPA-E is using this RFI to hear from the community and shape what a future program might look like, but there is no active grant competition attached to it and no awards are expected under this announcement.
The RFI is centered on a potential future ARPA-E program aimed at advancing the toolset for plant genetic engineering and plant synthetic biology, specifically in areas that could support ARPA-E's energy-related mission. The underlying premise is that even though plant biotechnology has progressed rapidly, many crops and traits remain hard to engineer quickly and predictably, especially when compared with the speed and reliability seen in some microbial or mammalian systems. ARPA-E is asking for input on technologies and strategies that could make plant engineering faster, broaden what kinds of genetic changes can realistically be made, and reduce one of the biggest practical bottlenecks: the variability and difficulty of regenerating whole plants after genetic modification.
The goals outlined for the potential program focus on three major technical outcomes. First, ARPA-E wants approaches that accelerate plant genetic modifications, meaning shorter design-build-test cycles and higher throughput for creating and evaluating engineered plants. Second, they want methods that expand the range of genetic modifications possible, which can include enabling edits or insertions that are currently difficult in plants, improving targeting flexibility, supporting complex trait engineering, or making genetic engineering feasible in a wider set of crop species and elite varieties. Third, they want to decrease variability and reduce the difficulty of plant regeneration following genetic modification, addressing challenges like genotype dependence, inconsistent transformation outcomes, tissue culture bottlenecks, and the time and labor required to recover stable, healthy, fertile edited or transformed plants.
ARPA-E is intentionally casting a wide net for responses. They are seeking feedback not only from core technical experts such as plant scientists, plant geneticists, molecular biologists, synthetic biologists, and crop breeders, but also from robotics and machine learning engineers who can contribute automation, high-throughput workflows, advanced imaging, predictive modeling, and closed-loop optimization. In addition, ARPA-E wants perspectives from the broader plant biotechnology ecosystem, including seed producers, growers, plant transformation centers, and biotechnology companies. That mix signals an interest in solutions that are not just scientifically promising, but also scalable, robust, and compatible with real-world breeding, seed production, and commercialization pipelines.
To guide submissions, ARPA-E lists topic areas and questions intended to elicit practical, decision-useful information. One major area is technological approaches that could speed up plant genetic engineering for traits relevant to ARPA-E's statutory goals, which broadly relate to advancing energy technologies and reducing emissions. Another area is success metrics: ARPA-E is asking how the field should quantify whether a new engineering method truly moves the needle, not just in the lab but across innovation and discovery, trait development, and eventual commercialization of improved crop varieties. They also request ideas on how to evaluate technical feasibility, which implies interest in realistic validation plans, benchmarking against current standards, and identification of the key risks and unknowns. Finally, they want input on what would drive widespread adoption, such as cost, ease of use, compatibility with existing breeding and transformation workflows, reliability across genotypes and environments, regulatory considerations, IP constraints, and the availability of shared infrastructure or service providers.
From an administrative standpoint, the RFI is issued by ARPA-E (CFDA 81.135) under the broad category of science and technology research and development. The listing notes "Eligible Applicants: Unrestricted," which in the context of an RFI generally means any stakeholder can provide input rather than there being eligibility limits for submitting responses. The original closing date for responding is 2024-11-11. The announcement lists an award ceiling of $0 and expected awards of 0, reinforcing that this is not a funding solicitation. The full RFI text and submission instructions are available through the ARPA-E FOA website at https://ARPA-E-FOA.energy.gov.
Overall, the opportunity here is a chance to influence what ARPA-E might fund in the future by providing grounded input on the biggest bottlenecks in plant engineering, the most promising technical routes to overcome them, how to measure progress in a way that matters for deployment, and what would make new tools adoptable at scale across the plant biotech and agriculture value chain.Apply for DE FOA 0003470
- The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the oz, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Request for Information (RFI) Plant Genetic Engineering for Energy Applications" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-10.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-11. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1) What is this ARPA-E announcement?
This is a Request for Information (RFI) from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) titled "Plant Genetic Engineering for Energy Applications" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0003470). It is an information-gathering notice intended to collect input from the community to help ARPA-E shape a potential future program.
2) Is this a grant or funding opportunity?
No. This RFI is not a funding opportunity and does not constitute a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). It is not accepting applications for funding, does not offer financial assistance, and no awards are expected under this announcement.
3) Can I submit an application for funding under this RFI?
No. ARPA-E is not accepting funding applications under this RFI. The intent is to receive feedback, ideas, and perspectives that could inform a future ARPA-E program.
4) Will ARPA-E make any awards from this announcement?
No. The announcement lists an award ceiling of $0 and expected awards of 0, which reinforces that ARPA-E does not plan to make awards under this RFI.
5) What is ARPA-E trying to accomplish with this RFI?
ARPA-E is using this RFI to understand the current bottlenecks and promising approaches in plant genetic engineering and plant synthetic biology that could support ARPA-E's energy-related mission. The feedback is meant to help define what a future ARPA-E program might focus on.
6) What is the focus area of the RFI?
The RFI centers on plant genetic engineering for energy applications, with an emphasis on advancing tools and strategies that make plant engineering faster, more predictable, and more broadly applicable across crops, traits, and genotypes.
7) What problem is ARPA-E highlighting in plant biotechnology?
ARPA-E notes that even with rapid progress in plant biotechnology, many crops and traits remain difficult to engineer quickly and predictably. A key practical bottleneck is the variability and difficulty of regenerating whole plants after genetic modification, along with other constraints that slow design-build-test cycles and limit what types of genetic changes are feasible.
8) What are the main technical goals ARPA-E outlines for a potential future program?
The RFI frames three major desired technical outcomes:
- Accelerate plant genetic modifications (shorter design-build-test cycles and higher throughput).
- Expand the range of genetic modifications that are possible (including difficult edits/insertions, improved targeting flexibility, complex trait engineering, and feasibility across more crop species and elite varieties).
- Decrease variability and reduce the difficulty of plant regeneration after genetic modification (addressing genotype dependence, inconsistent transformation outcomes, tissue culture bottlenecks, and the time/labor needed to recover stable, healthy, fertile plants).
9) What does "accelerate plant genetic modifications" mean in this context?
In the context of this RFI, it refers to approaches that shorten the time from design to tested plant outcome and enable higher-throughput creation and evaluation of engineered plants, improving the speed of iteration in plant engineering workflows.
10) What does "expand the range of genetic modifications possible" mean?
It refers to enabling genetic changes that are currently difficult in plants and/or making engineering feasible across a wider set of crop species and elite varieties. Examples described at a high level include enabling challenging edits or insertions, improving targeting flexibility, and supporting more complex trait engineering.
11) What regeneration challenges is ARPA-E pointing to?
ARPA-E points to several regeneration-related bottlenecks after genetic modification, including genotype dependence, inconsistent transformation outcomes, tissue culture limitations, and the time and labor required to recover stable, healthy, fertile edited or transformed plants.
12) Who is ARPA-E asking to respond to this RFI?
ARPA-E is seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders, including:
- Plant scientists, plant geneticists, molecular biologists, synthetic biologists, and crop breeders
- Robotics and machine learning engineers (for automation, high-throughput workflows, advanced imaging, predictive modeling, and closed-loop optimization)
- Seed producers, growers, plant transformation centers, and biotechnology companies
13) Why are robotics and machine learning perspectives relevant here?
ARPA-E signals interest in solutions that can improve automation and throughput, apply advanced imaging, enable predictive modeling, and support closed-loop optimization to make plant engineering workflows faster, more reliable, and more scalable.
14) What kinds of input is ARPA-E looking for?
The RFI indicates ARPA-E is seeking practical, decision-useful input, including:
- Technological approaches that could speed up plant genetic engineering for traits relevant to ARPA-E's statutory goals
- Success metrics to quantify whether new methods meaningfully improve outcomes beyond the lab and toward commercialization
- Ways to evaluate technical feasibility, including validation approaches and benchmarking against current standards
- Key risks and unknowns that could limit impact
- Adoption drivers and barriers (cost, ease of use, compatibility with workflows, reliability, regulatory considerations, IP constraints, and infrastructure/service availability)
15) Does ARPA-E specify how success should be measured?
The RFI does not prescribe a single metric; instead, it asks the community to propose success metrics. ARPA-E highlights interest in metrics that demonstrate real-world progress across innovation and discovery, trait development, and eventual commercialization of improved crop varieties.
16) What does ARPA-E mean by "technical feasibility" in the RFI?
Based on the RFI description, ARPA-E is interested in realistic approaches to evaluate whether proposed technologies can work as intended, including validation plans, benchmarking against current standards, and identifying key risks and unknowns.
17) What factors does ARPA-E mention that could drive widespread adoption of new plant engineering tools?
ARPA-E specifically notes factors such as cost, ease of use, compatibility with existing breeding and transformation workflows, reliability across genotypes and environments, regulatory considerations, intellectual property (IP) constraints, and the availability of shared infrastructure or service providers.
18) Are there eligibility restrictions for responding to the RFI?
The listing notes "Eligible Applicants: Unrestricted." In the context of an RFI, this indicates ARPA-E is generally open to receiving input from any stakeholder rather than limiting who may submit responses.
19) What is the closing date to respond to this RFI?
The original closing date for responding is 2024-11-11.
20) Where can I find the full RFI text and submission instructions?
The full RFI and submission instructions are available through the ARPA-E FOA website at https://ARPA-E-FOA.energy.gov.
21) What agency is issuing this RFI and what program identifier is provided?
The issuing agency is ARPA-E. The information provided references CFDA 81.135 and identifies the notice as science and technology research and development.
22) What is the main value of responding to this RFI if there is no funding?
The value is the opportunity to influence how ARPA-E might design and prioritize a future program by providing grounded input on major bottlenecks, promising technical approaches, meaningful performance metrics, feasibility considerations, and adoption requirements for scalable deployment.
23) Does submitting to the RFI guarantee ARPA-E will run a future funding program?
The information provided describes this as an information-gathering effort to shape what a future program might look like. It does not state or guarantee that a future funding opportunity will occur.
24) Is this announcement tied to energy and emissions outcomes?
Yes. The RFI frames interest in plant engineering approaches and traits relevant to ARPA-E's statutory goals, broadly described as advancing energy technologies and reducing emissions.
25) Does the RFI emphasize lab-only research or deployable, scalable solutions?
It emphasizes interest in solutions that are scientifically promising and also scalable, robust, and compatible with real-world breeding, seed production, and commercialization pipelines.
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