THE GREENEST TECH

A Paris startup is genetically modifying houseplants to scrub toxins from the air in homes and businesses, but it may take a jungle's worth to make a difference.

- WILL PRITCHARD

IN AN OLD SHOE FACTORY on the outskirts of Paris, new life is taking shape. A bank of PCR machines is multiplying plant DNA molecules by the hundreds of billions every few hours. Inside a gleaming white chamber, tiny emerald shoots are coaxed from single cells, unfurling in millimeters over a period of months.

It's a biologist's dream, says Patrick Torbey, CTO of Neoplants, a startup that's placing a multimillion-dollar bet on the air we breathe. Torbey grabs one of the clear plastic growing containers from the chamber and squints at his verdant creation: Nestled in a jelly-like growing medium called agar, it looks like a canapé-or, possibly, the future.

This is the Neo P1-a houseplant the firm genetically modified to help combat indoor air pollution. Pl is a tweaked form of golden pothos, commonly known as devil's ivy, one of the most ubiquitous and easy-going houseplants. Neoplants has engineered its DNA to boost its ability to sequester volatile organic compounds (VOCs)-formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene-that are prevalent in the air inside homes and businesses.

The modifications also enable the plant to convert the VOCs into substances like sugar and CO₂ that it can use to grow. Once it has outgrown the agar, Pl will be planted in a pot designed to maximize airflow and sold with packs of bacteria that are added to the soil each month to help the plant metabolize VOCs. Due to hit stores later this year, Pl will retail for $179-roughly 10 times the cost of an ordinary golden pothos plant, and in the ballpark of a decent HEPA purifier.