PRESS

1. About Us

Biotechnology Victoria, BC, Canada

"Building Balance through smart, living air purification”

At Origen Air, we believe nature always wins. That's why we've harnessed the power of nature to restore biological balance to indoor spaces.

We are the first air purification company that uses genetically engineered Golden Pothos Ivy as a living biofilter to remove pollutants from indoor air. Our air filters also incorporate probiotic fogging and UV-C light sterilization that is certified to remove 99.999% of airborne viruses, including COVID-19.

2. Management / Staff Bios

SUSAN BLANCHET

CEO & Co-Founder

From 2005 to 2019, Susan worked as legal counsel in this role she sharpened her negotiation and team building skills. She has legal expertise in contract, tax, environmental, negligence, and land law. In addition to her law degree (2002) she has a double major (hon) degree in Psychology and Environmental Studies (1997) from the University of Victoria, a residential and commercial real estate licence from the University of British Columbia (2015) and her B-Provincial (Football) Coaching License (2013). Susan believes in action and is committed to contributing to reduce GHG emissions to 30% below 2005 standards by 2030 as agreed to in the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Accord.

ANDREW CRAWFORD

CTO & Co-Founder

With a fiery entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for disruptive innovation, Andrew has been on the front lines in the development of vertical farms, living walls, electric vehicles, water filtration, waste management, and alternative energy solutions. From 2005 to 2016, Andrew spent 11 years living in the Hawaiian Islands where he owned and operated a hospitality consultancy group, raised his family, and was the owner/operator of an orchid nursery. He possesses a strong background in economics and hospitality management which has served him well over the past 20 years as a hotel manager and consultant working with such brands as The Four Seasons, Hilton, Starwood, and Ritz Carlton. He has a strong knowledge of botany, irrigation systems, and the wholesale/retail plant industry. His companies advocate sustainable farming practices and promote organic growing procedures.

RYAN LIDER

CIO & Co-Founder

Ryan Lider is a software developer, entrepreneur, and cybersecurity specialist with 17 years of software development experience. He is an OSCP cybersecurity penetration tester, and co-founder of XNote technologies, a SaaS company. In addition, he has a passion for innovative biotechnology and wide-range experience in gene-editing technologies. He has two degrees in Microbiology (2017) and Computer Science (2019).

3. The History

Over the past 15 years, Dr. Stuart E. Strand and the University of Washington Civil and Environmental Engineering Department have been developing the Enhanced Plants. The result of this extensive research is the creation of living plants that metabolize dangerous toxins such as benzene and chloroform from the air.

4. How It Works

All mammals have an enzyme in their livers known as P450 2e1 that can break down toxins. In Dr. Strand’s work, the Golden Pothos Ivy essentially becomes the vessel through which the enzyme works. The enzyme takes an oxygen atom from the air, bonds it to the pollutant molecule and detoxifies it. Origen Air’s Enhanced Plants contain the 2e1 enzyme and are scientifically proven to remove toxins.

5. Golden Pothos Ivy

Golden Pothos Ivy is a popular house plant well known for long, trailing stems that can grow to 8 ft (2.4 m) or more and with glossy heart-shaped leaves that emerge as green and become variegated with yellow or white. Golden Pothos Ivy looks its best under moderate to bright light and makes an excellent office plant because it grows well under fluorescent light sources. It is also called devil’s vine or devil’s ivy because it is almost impossible to kill and stays green even when kept in the dark. The Golden Pothos Ivy is also known as the money plant in many parts of the Indian subcontinent.

6. The Lab Results

During laboratory testing, the Enhanced Plants and regular plants were both placed inside test tubes with high levels of chloroform or benzene. The concentration of chloroform dropped by 82 percent and the concentration of benzene dropped by 75 percent in the tubes with Enhanced Plants inside of them. The regular plants did not remove any of the Benzene or Chloroform over the course of the eleven day experiment.

Download The Studies