Foray Bioscience are developing new biotechnologies to produce the wood products we love, without cutting down a single tree. Just as lab-grown meat has proven its commercial viability, Foray is developing a platform to bioengineer an expansive range of plant-based products, that can be cultured and grown to order.

Trees are assets. They play an important role in stabilizing Earth’s climate, fueling global economies, and supporting our well-being – all reasons we’re keen to keep them around! Given the growing demand for wood products and shrinking forest reserves, it’s time we started thinking more strategically about how we use our trees in order to maximise their utility to the broader environment, our industries, and ourselves.

The environmental benefits are profound. Trees are a slow-growing crop with enormous variability. They are susceptible to climate changes, pests and diseases. The supply-chain of plant-based products is often extremely localized, with certain trees growing only in certain regions, leading to uncertainty and price inconsistency. And logging itself is energy intensive. But cultured plant cells are resilient and efficient. They can be produced anywhere in the world without impacting natural species, maintaining animal ecosystems and promoting biodiversity. They can leave untouched the older, larger trees that sequester the most CO2. And the desired products require less energy to extract. (The Engine)