Increasing Carbon Drawdown and Retention in Terrestrial Biomass using Bioengineered Trees

Carbon drawdown and retention in terrestrial biomass is currently limited by the rate of photosynthetic assimilation and of decay of lignocellulosic biomass respectively. Living Carbon is developing innovative methods of reducing the susceptibility of vegetative biomass to decay by lignotrophic fungi, thereby reducing the rate of release of carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere through fungal respiration. Our trees gain resistance to fungal decay through the absorption of small quantities of nickel and copper from the soil and deposition of these metals in xylem (wood) tissue as the tree grows, a mechanism with demonstrated efficacy in wild conifer forests in boreal regions, where soil acidity encourages the dissolution of metals in water which is taken up by trees. If these results translate at scale, our trees will provide improved carbon drawdown in the gigaton range when planted in managed forests, and will produce wood with enhanced decay resistance, reducing the need for pressure treatment in light duty outdoor applications, while helping to reduce excessive metal concentrations in polluted soils. We participated in the Y Combinator incubator program last year and have raised significant in funding from venture capital sources, which has enabled us to demonstrate growth rate increases from our photosynthesis enhanced trees, produce nickel tolerant poplar seedlings expressing nickel transporters, and characterize the genes responsible for copper accumulation in Larrea tridentata (creosote bush). We envisage the creation of a new category of restorative synthetic biology, uniting carbon drawdown and retention, ecological restoration, and added value for landowners and timber producers.