Synthetic spuds to rewrite the genetic recipe book

The potato – a staple of dinner plates around the world – is at the centre of a bold scientific experiment. In a groundbreaking £62 million programme, the UK’s Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) is backing a new wave of plant research that goes far beyond traditional genetic modification. Instead of simply editing genes, scientists are aiming to build entirely new components of plant DNA from scratch – reprogramming crops at the most fundamental level to better withstand a changing climate and an ever-growing global appetite.

Welcome to the world of synthetic plants – crops designed at the molecular level to grow faster, resist disease, and survive harsher climates. If all goes well, they might just help solve one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century: how to sustainably feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050.

“We’re trying to create the building blocks – the stepping stones – for synthetic genomes in plants,” explains Angie Burnett, Programme Director at ARIA and a plant biologist who’s spent over a decade working on food security and environmental challenges. “These synthetic genetic units are parts of the genome written from scratch and added into the plant to provide complex, beneficial functions that would be really hard to achieve otherwise.”

The global food system is under pressure like never before. Traditional breeding and genetic modification are useful but limited. Synthetic biology offers something new: the ability to build entirely new chapters of a plant’s DNA rather than simply editing what’s already there.

Angie uses a helpful metaphor: “If plant DNA were a book, traditional breeding is like reshuffling chapters. Gene editing is like changing a few letters. Genetic modification might insert a new paragraph. But synthetic biology? It’s like writing a whole new chapter – even in a different language – and adding it in like an appendix.”

At the centre of this vision are chromosomes and chloroplasts. Chromosomes contain most of the plant’s genetic blueprint, while chloroplasts are responsible for photosynthesis. By engineering both, researchers hope to unlock powerful new traits. “By focusing on a chromosome and a chloroplast, we have two different but vital avenues for building synthetic genetic units,” Angie says. “They’re essential for plant traits and give us two shots at the goal.”

The work is highly ambitious and fundamentally experimental. The ARIA programme has funded nine teams, seven of which are focused on the science and two on public and ethical engagement. It’s early days – the programme begins in mid-2025 – but the scientific goals are clear: design, build, and deliver synthetic DNA units into plant cells.

“A lot of the work begins with computational design,” says Angie. “Researchers are figuring out what genes are needed for traits like improved yield, resilience to drought or pests, or even nitrogen fixation – things that are hard to achieve with current technologies.”

Once the design is ready, researchers build the synthetic DNA in the lab – sometimes massive sequences of up to a million base pairs. Then comes the biggest challenge: getting that DNA into the plant. “Delivering DNA into plant cells – transformation – is still very difficult to do at scale. But this programme is expected to bring a real step change, a paradigm shift in what’s possible.”

Why start with the potato? For the team at ARIA, it’s about collaboration and feasibility. If all the teams are working on the same crop, they can share knowledge and solve problems faster, and because potatoes feature heavily in diets across the world, this makes them accessible for researchers who are already familiar with how to work with them in the lab.

If successful, the programme could open a door to a new generation of crops tailored for climate resilience. “We need food security in a changing climate,” says Angie. “Our major crops are projected to decrease in yield by 11% because of climate change – while the population keeps rising. We’ll need 70% more food by 2050, with less land and less water. That’s why this matters.”

She continues: “Agriculture uses 70% of global fresh water. If we can develop crops that use less water, resist pests and pathogens, and thrive in challenging environments, it would be fantastic not just for food but also for other plant-based products.”

But ARIA isn’t just focused on technical progress. The programme also includes dedicated funding for two teams of social scientists. Their goal is to understand public attitudes, ethical concerns, and broader ecological implications.

“We recognise that this is a really important area,” Angie says. “That’s why we’re engaging farmers, the public, supply chain stakeholders, and governance experts to explore what benefits might be considered credible and acceptable, and under what conditions.”

The ethics teams are also innovating. “They’re not just listening – they’re developing new paradigms for public engagement, creating creative resources, and experimenting with what successful governance of this technology could look like.”

In the short term, Angie emphasises that the work is foundational – it’s not about bringing products to market just yet. “If we succeed, we’ll have shown what’s possible and changed the conversation. Then we can explore whether this is a tool we want to use and how to use it responsibly.”

Looking ahead, the goal is not just about better crops – it’s about rethinking how we engineer life to meet humanity’s needs. And if the foundations laid by ARIA succeed, the next chapter in plant science might be one we write ourselves.