A four person subsidiary of a St. Louis genomics services company landed a $250,000 grant to further research into carbon capture technology to naturally improve soil conditions using photosynthetic microorganisms.
MOgene Green Chemicals, LC is a wholly owned subsidiary of MOgene LC, a St. Louis based genomics services company serving academic, government and industrial research groups and institutions since 2004. The MGC subsidiary was formed in 2010 to engineer bio-catalysts to produce molecules that can be used in a variety of industries. Bio-catalysts are natural substances ranging from enzymes to whole cells that speed up chemical reactions.
In the case of this Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, awarded in April by the U.S. Department of Energy (ARPA-E), MGC will try to develop a mix of photosynthetic microorganisms to capture carbon and build soil organic matter.
The problem the company is attempting to address stems from soil damage from routine, but intensive, agriculture practices including:
- removal of residual crops
- use of synthetic fertilizer
- use of synthetic herbicides
- tillage practices
While routine, these practices led to lost organic matter, increased greenhouse gas emissions and reduced capacity of the soil to store carbon.
The small subsidiary is no stranger to grants, landing at least four others since 2012, totaling at least $1,450,000 not counting this most recent grant.
