Research
From blueprint to forest
From blueprint
to forest.
A four-phase research program. Two phases complete, two ahead. This page walks through the science, the choices behind it, and where we are today.
A four-phase research program. Two phases complete, two ahead. This page walks through the science, the choices behind it, and where we are today.
Mapping every targeted edit to maximize carbon capture, resilience, and ecological compatibility.
Native cultivars chosen for tropical, temperate, and boreal climates — each tailored to its biome.
Bringing edits into living tissue, observing growth, and validating function. The phase we're now ready for.
Pilot plantings, monitoring, and global scale partnerships with land stewards and reforestation networks.
01 · Genome maps
02 · Species survey
03 · Lab synthesis
04 · Field plantingsWe don't introduce foreign DNA. We use CRISPR-based tools to adjust expression of genes a tree already has — turning up photosynthetic efficiency, accelerating lignin deposition, deepening root architecture.
Sequencing workflow · Reference lab
Leaf morphology · Field sample
We work exclusively with native species in each region. An engineered tree should still belong to the ecology it grows in — pollinators, fungi, and birds shouldn't have to learn it.
Most reforestation strategies focus on the planting — choosing species, sourcing saplings, securing land. The carbon math is straightforward and the bottleneck is logistical.
We're interested in a different bottleneck: the per-tree ceiling. A mature tree of a given species in a given climate has a fairly predictable carbon-absorption rate. Across millennia of evolutionary tuning, that rate represents a local optimum — not necessarily a global one.
Our research focuses on three gene families: those governing RuBisCO efficiency (the enzyme responsible for fixing atmospheric carbon), those controlling stomatal density (the rate at which leaves exchange gas), and those regulating lignin biosynthesis (how durably carbon is stored in woody tissue).
Each of these has been studied for decades. What's new is the ability to make precise, multi-site edits in a tree species — and to do it in a way that the resulting organism remains fully native, fully fertile, and ecologically compatible.
"We're not engineering a new species. We're nudging an old one toward a different equilibrium."
Phases one and two — genome design and species selection — are complete. We have detailed edit maps for three target species, each chosen for a major climate zone. We've modeled expected carbon uptake under conservative assumptions and have a peer-review-ready document outlining the science.
Phase three — bringing the edits into living tissue — requires laboratory access. That is where we are now. The next page explains how we're approaching that, and how you can be part of it.