RootMemory delivers bio-fertilisers by binding bacteria to plant roots
StartupRealities No 66 RootMemory is a biochemicals company that develops species-specific bio-fertilisers that use genetically-modified bacteria to bind to the roots of the plants and deliver the nutrients contained in the fertiliser. The bacteria thus serve as an intermediary between the fertiliser and the plant. The company's research is centred on the common rhizobia bacteria , which are known to fix fertiliser in the roots of legume plants. RootMemory develops bacteria that are genetically modified to attach themselves to the roots of other key agricultural plants (such as wheat, rice, bananas). However, the genetically-modified bacteria are not required to fix (generate) nitrogen or other nutrients themselves; they only need to pass on the nutrients from the soil to the root of the given plant species, while not interacting with other species (weeds) at the same time. PRODUCT The company sells the (inorganic) fertilisers separately from the species-specific living bacter...