The concept of molecular farming is not new. Molecular farming production has been underway in the United States' Virginia tobacco industry for some time.

Farmacule has recognised that Australia, with its well developed agricultural production infrastructure, is also ideally suited to molecular farming and has great potential to establish a viable industry of its own.

So what is molecular farming?

Molecular farming involves growing crops to produce proteins, bioplastics and other products rather than traditional food or fibre.

In order for a plant to be used to produce specific molecules, a novel gene is inserted into its chromosomes. Regulatory code is inserted with that gene which tells the plant where to produce the desired protein within its leaves, roots or seeds. Farmacule works through this process with the aid of its In-Plant Activation technology (ie INPACT).

In the same way that sugarcane is harvested and refined to produce sugar, proteins manufactured inside the plants through molecular farming are later extracted after a crop is harvested and processed. Instead of producing a food product, the end result could be a plastic, medicine or even an additive for the paper manufacturing process.

There is a growing worldwide demand for high value proteins. Molecular farming provides a cost effective and scaleable production mechanism to meet this demand.

Farmacule's path to protein production in plants is mapped out below: