Zero-waste plants optimised for controlled environments
Controlled agriculture environments (CEA) provide a unique opportunity to exceed assumed limits in plant performance. P4S are redesigning crops to generate bespoke CEA plant varieties by co-optimising plant traits and growth environments, including:
- Optimisation of day length and nutrition.
- Improving salt tolerance, nutrient and water use efficiency without reducing yield.
- Converting all plant parts to be usable, whether for food or other end-uses.
- Ensuring sustainability by optimising CEA parameters using digital twins.
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Complete nutrition plant-based foods
P4S aims to generate a small collection of plants that can optimise concentrations of all essential macro- and micro-nutrients and support complete plant-based nutrition.
We use a wide suite of approaches to tailor plant-based food products for consumers with specific digestive, nutritional or psychological needs.
- Smart food structuring to create variety in texture, flavour and aroma.
- Refining protein composition to optimise balance of essential amino acids.
- Testing foods for palatability, digestibility and sensory appeal using cutting-edge biometric analyses to map and predict human responses.
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On-demand bioresource production
P4S is harnessing our team's deep knowledge of plant processes and genomic technology to create programmable, tuneable plant factories for bioresource production. Applications include the development of:
- Plant-based polymer precursors, pharmaceuticals, and flavours.
- Smart plants already programmed to produce a broad range of required biomolecules, each of which can be triggered by a specific cue (e.g. light, nutrients).
- Sentinel plants with built-in biosensors for monitoring agricultural plant health and harvest readiness.
Innovations in this mission encompass the development of new technology platforms for on-demand or large-scale production of novel, recyclable biomolecules, including plant-based construction materials and pharmaceuticals, that can be processed with minimal energy, resources, and waste.
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Future-ready workforce and society
We aim to provide an industry-ready translation pipeline integrating and informing outputs across P4S research, including co-design between academia, government, industry, and start-ups to provide major sector uplift.
Our research also includes the exploration of the anticipatory and responsive legal, regulatory, ethical, and psychological frameworks associated with our work.
P4S members contribute to a robust national education and engagement program, with public events, classroom engagements, teacher professional learning and best-practice STEM education research.
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