ENGINEERING THE FUTURE OF CROPS THROUGH ORGANELLE GENE EDITING
Our Approach
Plant Organelle Technologies (POT) has developed a unique, proprietary approach that enables programmable genetic modification in plants.
POT’s proprietary technology (termed MOSS for ‘Mutant Organelle Selection System’) introduces genes and gene edits into organelles, both chloroplasts and mitochondria, in a way that rapidly achieves homoplasmy, that is, every organelle of a cell or plant contains the desired genetic change.
This breakthrough allows for the development of engineered traits with localised, high-level expression. The MOSS approach offers several important advantages, including reduced transgene phytotoxicity, simpler backcrossing and trait stacking, more effective genetic containment, clearer and regulatory pathway, and improved management of insect and disease resistance.
The technology has a wide range of potential applications from enhancing crop yields and resilience to introducing valuable food traits. In addition to these agronomic benefits, our approach supports sustainability with the potential for significant carbon savings compared to conventional methods.
By enabling precise editing of organelle DNA, POT is opening a new frontier in crop technology and helping to address the global challenges of food security and sustainable agriculture.
Our Partners
Our Team
Dr. Junwei Ji
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Junwei Ji is a founder and executive director of POT. Junwei holds a BSc in Agricultural Biotechnology from South China Agriculture University, and an MSc and PhD from the University of Manchester. His PhD research focused on the development of a system to allow the precise mutagenesis of plant chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA, leading to the system now known as the Mutant Organelle Selection System (MOSS), which is now licensed to POT.
Junwei has deep experience of agricultural biotechnology and led the ICURe programme that laid the groundwork for the company. In addition, he has worked as a hybrid maize breeder and is familiar with the limitations of conventional approaches and in particular the challenges brought by climate change and the need to find innovative solutions to solve these challenges.
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Anil Day is a founder of POT and serves as a non-executive director and scientific advisor to the company. Anil is a Reader in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Manchester. He is recognized as a world leader in chloroplast biology and has many years’ experience in the development of new genetic engineering tools aimed at changing and improving key chloroplast genes to increase crop yields. He is active in the translation of research and has worked extensively with SMEs as well as large multinational companies.
He is active in promoting entrepreneurial activities at the University of Manchester at all levels and is the business engagement lead for the 50 academic staff in the division of Molecular and Cellular Function. Together with Junwei Ji, he invented the MOSS technology.
Dr. Anil Day
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Tim Brears is the Executive Chair of POT. Tim has broad start-up experience in biotechnology, ag biotech, synthetic biology, and pharmaceuticals. He has served as CEO of a number of biotech companies, including Evonetix, Xention and Gendaq, leading these companies through substantial financings and significant corporate agreements, including exit.
Tim spent ten years in the US, initially as a Long-term Fellow of the European Molecular Biology Organisation in the Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology at Rockefeller University, New York, and subsequently as Director of Business Development at Ciba-Geigy/Novartis (now Syngenta) Agribusiness in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
He is a graduate of Oxford University, holds a PhD from Cambridge University in plant molecular biology and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Dr. Tim Brears
Latest News
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Plant Organelle Technologies receives £500,000 ARIA funding for crop research
Plant Organelle Technologies (‘POT’), a spinout company from The University of Manchester, has been awarded a £498,113 grant to expand its cutting edge research on organelle gene expression and the development of a novel mechanism to create hybrid wheat, one of the largest food crops in the world.
