BIOTECHNOLOGY
tronics professor at Tel Aviv University , shared that he and a colleague figured out how to communicate with plants , it was an intuitive solution , she says , and she knew the disruptive technology could have a significant impact on global agriculture and sustainability . Aronov spent months in Tel Aviv studying the technology . After market research led her to explore an older version of the technology , she ’ d discovered how to commercialize essentially older science in an entirely innovative way , she says .
In 2018 , Aronov cofounded Inner- Plant , the world ’ s first company to transform plants into living sensors for agriculture with leaves that fluoresce ( glow ) within 12-24 hours of the emergence of stress in different colors based on the stressor , such as pests , water stress or nutrient deficiencies . Her company is at the intersection of molecular biology , technology , agriculture and data science — four industries dominated by men — and she ’ s pursuing $ 10 million in series A funding to build detection software , develop biosensing seeds for several crops and commercialize the company ’ s first product , InnerTomato , in 2022 , followed by InnerSoybean , a cover crop , and a host of targeted crops such as grapes and blueberries .
“ I do think sometimes it ’ s harder for women for some reason ,” Aronov says . “ I try not to look at it that way , because I am who I am , and I don ’ t know what it feels like to pitch an investor as a male .”
Even as her company is still developing , it ’ s rapidly building a global footprint with interest from growers in the U . S ., Mexico and South America , along with established partnerships and more underway . And it ’ s looking at opening an office in South America , where there ’ s a massive soybean market , she says . For genetically modified crops , such as soybeans that are grown on a scale of hundreds of thousands to millions of acres , all seeds will have
the InnerPlant trait while nongenetically modified organism crops , such as nuts , fruits and vegetables , would incorporate only a small number of sterile InnerPlants to function as sensors of crop health , which won ’ t integrate into the food supply because they can ’ t reproduce .
Aronov says she hopes other women will see that if she can succeed , they can too . “ I hope that other women decide that they want to go down this path and understand that we all felt insecure , and it all took us longer ,” she says . “ At the end of the day , the only thing you can do is be yourself and try to constantly be a better version of yourself , because we really don ’ t know what we ’ re not .”
Jennifer Junghans holds degrees in biological sciences and horticulture and writes about food systems , wildlife and conservation . More at www . jenniferjunghans . com .
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Created in partnership with the Association of Commercial Real Estate ( ACRE ) and the Building Owners and Managers Association of Sacramento ( BOMA ), we ’ ll examine how the office market is evolving due to the pandemic , the repositioning of the market according to industry experts , safety and security strategies , and present our annual Office Interior Design photo essay .
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