“I think it’s great that ARIA exists, and it’s great that there’s a botanical program within it,” Langdale says. “There’s no question about that, because people like Gates have been pushing the moonshot project for too long. And of course they’re very focused on what they want to accomplish. It has a specific focus.”
Philanthropic foundations like Gates’ are open to projects that may not get paid. “We’ve been working on it for quite some time, but certainly nothing comes close to a product that can be put into the field,” Langdale says. Government-backed science funding has historically had far less appetite for these types of projects, as it is difficult to justify spending tax dollars on projects that may take 30 years to realize.
Even compared to the C4 Rice project, Barnett’s synthetic plant program is very expensive, Langdale said. Barnett is aiming to spend 62.4 million pounds ($82 million) over five years. The program will fund scientists attempting to create synthetic chromosomes, the genetic building blocks of plants, and synthetic chloroplasts, which have their own individual genomes. However, the program does not specify what new characteristics these partially synthesized plants should have. It’s a bit like designing a new machine without knowing what tools it will build, Langdale says.
Jonathan Napier, scientific director of agricultural research institute Rothamsted Research, shares these concerns. Building synthetic chromosomes and chloroplasts is a well-defined goal, but it is unclear whether it will yield tangible benefits. Napier is trying to engineer crops to produce omega-3 fish oil, while the C4 Rice Project is trying to make rice even more productive. But Barnett’s program is much broader than either of these. At least in theory, plant scientists could one day be able to engineer all sorts of functions into plants.
“If all this goes well, we will be able to design complex pathways in computers, build entire chromosomes (…) and connect them to plants in one step,” said another workshop participant and professor. says Saul Parton. He is a professor at University College London, where he researches synthetic chloroplasts in algae. Parton said there is a possibility of applying for an ARIA grant, but the five-year timeline set for delivering synthetic chloroplasts for some crop species is very tight. “We’ve been on an onslaught for 15 or 20 years in terms of developing new synthetic biology tools to manipulate chloroplasts in simple model systems, and we’re still learning. , still making mistakes.”
when we meet Barnett rejoined in early August and just won approval for the program after a grueling three-hour meeting with Garr, members of ARIA’s executive team and a panel of external experts. “I was a little nervous because this is the big moment I’ve been aiming for,” she says. In addition to funding projects working on building synthetic chromosomes and chloroplasts, Barnett is also calling for research into the ethics of synthetic plants. He envisions a world in which farmers, lawmakers, and the public must grapple with the idea of crops that are entirely made by humans. hand. But it’s unlikely she’ll still be at a government agency to see these scientific seeds come to fruition. Program directors are typically hired for three-year terms, and the agency is already in the process of hiring the next director, some of whom will launch entirely new project areas.
On such a short time scale, it can be difficult to assess the success of such a long-term play. Are the mistakes just a bump in the road, or are they a sign that you’ve chosen the wrong path entirely? Collison is quite cautious about his definition of success. Fifteen years from now, he says, it should be clear whether ARIA is a good thing. Agencies have some leeway. It cannot be dissolved for at least 10 years, by which time Britain will have held at least one more general election. The new Labor government expressed support for ARIA, particularly by appointing Vallance as Minister for ARIA. “Harnessing the power of science is essential to delivering economic growth, opportunity and scientific progress for people across the UK,” a government spokesperson said.
(Tag translation) DARPA(T) Research(T) Invention
