Adenine

The Mission

Engineered plants with enhanced capacities to absorb formaldehyde, a common pollutant of indoor air, without using techniques of genetic modification

The challenge

Formaldehyde is a known carcinogenic pollutant. It is frequently present in indoor air of households, rejected from various sources including building materials, paper-based products, cigarette smoke or cosmetics. In a professional setting, formaldehyde is used in resins and glues for wood and paper production, but also as a preservative for human and animal tissues in labs and mortuaries. Thus, workers in wood, paper and chemical industries, as well as healthcare and lab workers, including mortuary work are at high risk of exposure to formaldehyde.

The solution

We have developed a tool to enhance a houseplants capacities in removing formaldehyde from indoor air without using techniques of genetic engineering. Thus, our super-plant is not a genetically modified organism (GMO).