Synthetic Plants
Backed by £62.4m, this programme aims to catalyse a new generation of major crops that are more productive, resilient, and sustainable.
Meet the R&D Creators
In Phase One, we’re funding nine teams across two Technical Areas. Teams in TA1 will develop synthetic genetic units that can give plants beneficial traits and characteristics, which current methods make difficult, costly, and time-consuming to achieve. Alongside this technical work, TA2 teams will lead public engagement on the social and ethical considerations around new and advanced technologies.
Our teams span a wide range of disciplines, from computational biology and DNA assembly to sociology and ethics, and represent a strong institutional mix across startups, university labs, and public research institutions. Together, they’ll aim to make essential crops more resilient to environmental challenges, support more productive and sustainable farming, and ensure that diverse public perspectives help shape the future of these technologies.
TA1 | Design, Build, Deliver
We’re funding seven teams to develop ways to build and introduce genetic instructions into chloroplasts and chromosomes, enabling us to equip crop plants with beneficial abilities and characteristics such as higher yield, improved photosynthesis, and better tolerance to stressors. This work will initially focus on Solanum tuberosum (the potato).
Creating a programmable, synthetic plastid genome: Synplastome 2.0
Saul Purton, University College London
From Prototype to Production: Implementing synthetic chromosome technology in crops
Jake Harris, University of Cambridge
SyncSol: A Streamlined Platform for Synthetic Chloroplast Genome Assembly in Solanaceous Crops
Daniel Dunkelmann, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
“ARIA’s willingness to take risks and explore the unknown is what empowers us to pursue what is considered nearly impossible in a meaningful way. We’re excited to be part of a community with a clear vision, and the courage to take bold steps to make it a reality.”
OPTIMiSE: Oxford Plastid Transformation for an Improved Sustainable Economy
Steven Kelly, University of Oxford
Reducing Costs and Iteration Times on our Way Towards Synthetic Plants
Karen Sarkisyan, Syntato
A Rapid Method for Construction and Installation of the Whole Chloroplast Genomes in Solanum Tuberosum
Bogumil Karas, Western University
Engineering Synthetic Plant Artificial Chromosomes (synPACs)
Joshua James + Patrick Yizhi Cai, University of Manchester
The Creator experience
What you can expect as an ARIA R&D creator.
Applicant guidance
Discover the process of applying for ARIA funding and find key resources.