Multiply

In an old shoe factory on the outskirts of Paris, new life is taking shape. A bank of PCR machines is multiplying plant DNA molecules by the hundreds of billions every few hours. Inside a gleaming white chamber, tiny emerald shoots are coaxed from single cells, spreading in millimeters over a period of months.

It’s a biologist’s dream, says Patrick Torbey, CTO of Neoplants, a startup that’s placing a multimillion-dollar bet on the air we breathe. Torbey grabs one of the clear plastic growing containers from the chamber and stares at his green creation: Nestled in a jelly-like growing medium called agar, it looks like a canapé—or, possibly, the future.
–Wired