Page 15 - PERIODIC Magazine Issue 6

for SugaROx include scale-up of production of the
compounds, field trials in a range crops and toxicity testing
for regulatory approval. SugaROx will need to recruit a
team of people to carry out this work and to manage the
company to ensure its continued success.

Oxford Nanopore – funding to
support expansion, creating jobs and
SugaROx – Increasing crop yields developing new innovative products
for global food security Founded on the science of Professor Hagan Bayley, Oxford
Nanopore developed the world’s first and only nanopore
Global food security is threatened by increasing population DNA sequencer, the MinION. This portable, low-cost
and climate change. To meet increasing global demands, device has been used to sequence the human genome
crop yields must double in the next 35 years. Professor (https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4060) and makes
Ben Davis has partnered with Dr Matthew Paul at DNA and RNA analysis widely available– opening up
Rothamsted Research to develop a first-in-class chemical exciting possibilities in scientific research and education.
solution which is currently the only method for increasing The company has achieved unprecedented success, and
crop yield that can keep up with this increasing demand. recently raised an additional £100M from global investors.
Driven by the success of the technology and commercial The funds will support a new manufacturing facility,
interest received, the spin-out company SugaROx has commercial expansion, and the development of additional
been formed to produce and sell this novel compound. innovative products.

The SugaROx compound consists of a sugar molecule
(Trehalose-6-phosphate, T6P) essential for yield formation Prime Minister Theresa May said: ‘I’m pleased that such a
in plants, and a light-cleavable group that allows membrane pioneering British business has obtained the investment
permeation. The SugaROx method enables targeted they need to grow, creating thousands more jobs and
increase in T6P to elevate the capacity for starch synthesis continuing ground-breaking research in this field here in
and increase photosynthetic rate. the UK. Through our modern Industrial Strategy we are
making sure that Britain remains the natural choice for
A glass-house trial conducted on wheat showed increased innovative firms to prosper – investing in the future of our
grain size and yield per plant by up to 20%. This trial country’.
was published in Nature (Griffiths et al. 2016, Nature
doi:10.1038/nature20591) and resulted in interest by https://nanoporetech.com
several companies who will be the first customers of
SugaROx. A large-scale field trial is now in progress and
will form the basis for regulatory approval.

In addition to increasing yield, the T6P precursors also
stimulate growth recovery after drought, allow control of
specific processes, such as flowering time, and screening
for genetic variation in processes that determine yield.

In April 2018 the SugaROx team were invited to pitch at
the Investment Catalyst hosted by the Royal Society of
Chemistry and UK Business Angels Associations. The
presentation was well received and SugaROx are now in
discussions with a number of investors who would like to
support the company going forward. Future developments

15
Periodic
The Magazine of the Department of Chemistry