ISAAA June 5, 2024

Photo Source: Neoplants

In April, Paris-based start-up Neoplants started selling Neo Px in the United States. It is the first bioengineered air purifier developed through synthetic biology, and a nature-based solution to fight indoor air pollution known as Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs. Neo Px is up to 30x more efficient at air purifying compared to regular houseplants.

Neo Px is designed to fight against the most prevalent, harmful, and difficult-to-target indoor air VOCs, including Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX). Neoplants chose pothos (Epipremnum aureum) because of its physiological characteristics. This plant also boasts remarkable phytoremediation abilities, enabling it to absorb significant amounts of VOCs per unit mass. Pothos also harbors genes that encode endogenous enzymes capable of mitigating certain VOCs. Lastly, pothos is a good houseplant that can survive and grow continuously for decades.

To create Neo Px, Neoplants integrated three unique components that include a bioengineered microbiome, an exceptionally effective air-purifying houseplant, and a meticulously optimized planter called "the Shell." The bioengineered genome is set to amplify the depollution prowess of this biological system. Neo Px has a designated planter called "The Shell" crafted from PLA-Flax, a biocomposite derived from sustainable crops like beetroot and sugarcane, and reinforced with up to 30% flax fibers.

In the future, Neoplants plans to produce genetically modified plants whose metabolism will directly do the work of air purification.

For more details, download the white paper on the Neoplants website.