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Our goal is to select the most appropriate crop species to use as an efficient bioreactor in a commercial molecular farming operation.
Our initial investigations have been, and will continue to be, focused on finding crops which can be genetically enhanced, harvested with ease and processed with minimum complications.
Farmacule is placing particular importance on the safety and containment of gene flow to other species.
Investigations to date indicate risks arising from the release of genetically modified organisms into the environment can be eliminated using the INPACT technology.
In particular, INPACT enables the creation of male sterility in plants and therefore has commercial application in the production of hybrid seed and preventing the release of modified genetic material into neighbouring crops.
Our efforts have also concentrated on ‘safe’ plants such as tobacco, bananas and sugarcane, which provide several advantages over other potential plant bioreactors.
For example:
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Tobacco is a non-food crop which is grown in a highly regulated environment in Australia |
| Bananas are a sterile plant which provide no opportunity for transgene escape |
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Image courtesy of Queensland University of Technology, Plant Biotechnology
Program
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Image courtesy of Sugar Research Institute
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Sugarcane is a crop that produces very large biomass and can be grown essentially as a sterile crop. |
Any work with genetically modified organisms in Australia is regulated by comprehensive legislation. Farmacule’s Managing Director, Prof. James Dale, played a significant role in the development of this legislation in his role on the Australian Government’s Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee.
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