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 canape-or, possibly, the future. This is the Neo P1-a houseplant the firm genetically modified to help combat indoor air pollution. P1 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.
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