InnerPlant has created plants that emit light that’s detectable as far away as outer space. The plants emit light when under attack by pests or are short of water or nutrients.

According to the company, InnerPlant’s technology gives farmers the data they need to spray only where and when specific plants need it.

How does this technology work?

Plants, like humans, have immune systems and stress responses that activate specific genes within hours in response to specific stresses. InnerPlant finds the genes that are activated for a particular stress and inserts another piece of DNA that instructs the plant to produce a fluorescent protein when it activates its natural stress response genes. The fluorescent protein that’s activated by a plant’s physiological response to stress isn’t visible to the human eye, but it is detectable by satellite, drone and tractor.

Because it’s tied directly to the plant’s physiological response, that signal is the earliest warning of stress, which translates into as much as four weeks of advance warning before symptoms of stress are visible to other scouting methods.

“InnerSoy is a first-of-its-kind soybean engineered to emit an optical fluorescent signal visible from space within 48 hours of experiencing fungal stress,” explained Alyssa Harker, director of communications for InnerPlant. “The product we’re now offering to farmers and agronomists, CropVoice, is an insights platform powered by our InnerSoy fungal sensor. The CropVoice platform taps a network of sentinel plots featuring InnerSoy, translating data from the plants’ signals into an early fungal alert system for growers. Subscribers will receive alerts in response to fungal pressure in a particular coverage area. Alerts are based on signals from our InnerSoy plant, and additional field data points such as temperature and relative humidity.

“CropVoice puts actionable data in farmers’ hands early enough for them to take action to protect their yields. With earlier and more accurate warnings, farmers can apply more timely and precise interventions,” Harker added. “For the first time, we’re allowing plants to communicate with farmers.”

InnerPlant’s new category of seed technology, starting with CropVoice, “fundamentally changes agricultural risk mitigation and eliminates the need for blanket spraying.”

“We chose to start with a fungal sensor based on feedback from farmers in our InnerCircle farmer community who identified it as a way to solve the valuable problem of treating infections that aren’t detectable early enough to take action using current methods,” Harker said. “Additional stresses and additional crops will follow soon.”

Last month, InnerPlant completed the Food and Drug Administration’s New Protein Consultation for the fluorescent protein used in InnerSoy. The research and preparation of the report for the FDA’s early food safety evaluation were supported by a grant from the United Soybean Board.

InnerSoy data is currently available exclusively through the CropVoice insights platform. Farmers will have the option of purchasing InnerSoy seeds as part of an identity-preserved system in 2027, with broad availability of the InnerPlant trait expected in 2030 after the global approval process is completed.

“Soybeans are our first crop, but corn is very much on the roadmap. This technology will be adapted to other crops, including corn, as well as other stresses such as insects, various pathogens and nitrogen,” Harker said. “These crops are cultivated in the same way farmers currently cultivate soybeans. We prioritize maintaining the plant’s normal functions while adding the fluorescence capability, so InnerPlant’s crops integrate seamlessly into a farmer’s existing work flow.”

InnerPlant completed field trials during the 2024 growing season to observe the performance of the fungal sensor in open field conditions. During this 2024 in-field pilot, InnerSoy sensor plants were successfully cultivated across two locations in Illinois, and the sensor was successfully validated, said Harker.

“Farmer feedback has been incredibly positive and demand continues to grow,” she said. “During the 2025 growing season, InnerPlant will have two CropVoice demo plots in Iowa, specifically in Perry and Jefferson, giving the state’s soybean farmers an opportunity to experience the technology firsthand before it’s more broadly available in 2026.”