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ARPA-E TEOSYNTE Project DE-AR0002025
Reducing Nitrogen Loss.
Improving Crop Efficiency.
Transforming Bioenergy Systems.
The TF Regulon Engineering project is an interdisciplinary effort funded through the ARPA-E TEOSYNTE Program, focused on transforming how plants utilize nitrogen.
Nitrogen fertilizers are essential for modern agriculture but are a major source of Nitrous oxide emissions, a potent greenhouse gas and driver of climate change.
Our approach moves beyond traditional breeding and single-gene engineering. We target transcription factor regulons—coordinated gene networks that control nitrogen uptake, assimilation, and metabolism.
Goal:
Develop bioenergy crops that require less fertilizer while maintaining or increasing yield.
We are a team of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers pursuing a high-risk, high-reward approach to reprogram plant gene regulatory networks, aiming to fundamentally transform nitrogen use in bioenergy crops and enable step-change reductions in agricultural N₂O emissions.
