ARPA-E chief highlights Agrivida's enzyme process

In Massachusetts, ARPA-E chief Arun Majumdar recently highlighted Agrivida’s biofuels technology, stating that “They take the gene sequences that produce enzymes and put them in the plant itself, so when the plant grows, it produces the enzymes free of cost.” Agrivida’s research is focused on mechanisms to “switch off” the enzymes during the plant’s growth period, and activate the enzyme by changing humdity, temperature or acidity. “It’s supposed to chew itself from the inside,” Majumdar added. “And I call this ‘putting the cow inside the plant.’ It’s an amazing idea. Now I don’t know whether it’s going to work, but if it does, you essentially eliminated the cost of those enzymes, which is the really expensive part.”

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