Background Independent research on non-bioengineered plants has found that 10 - 1,000 plants per m of...
Fantastic news! We've Found the answer you've been seeking!
Question:
Transcribed Image Text:
Background Independent research on non-bioengineered plants has found that 10 - 1,000 plants per m of floor space (about the space you have around a chair) would be required to remove VOCS from an indoor environment (Cummings & Waring, 2020). If these values were applied to Neoplants' claim that the Neo P1 removes 30 times the VOCs of regular plants, then around 0.3-33.3 Neo P1 plants per m of floor space would be needed to remove VOCs from an indoor space. For a living room with 25 m of floor space, this would mean purchasing 8- 833 Neo P1 plants at an upfront cost of between AU$2,160 and AU$224,910, although costs would be significantly lower if cuttings from one plant were used to make new plants. Neoplants' website doesn't mention these figures. Instead, the website claims that the Neo P1 is "The first and only plant built to purify the air in your home." They also use the tagline "Fighting air pollution. One home at a time." and claim that the Neo P1 is "Good for the world, gorgeous for your home. This is a superplant with superpowers." In media interviews, the company is more cautious. Lionel Mora, one of Neoplant's co- founders, mentioned in an interview with Wired that the Neo P1 "will be the first time in history that such a product exists...The first computers, they weren't so great. But they were revolutionary." An online exchange between a user of the Y Combinator message board and the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Neoplants also alludes to the fact that learnings from developing the Neo P1 - alongside associated sales revenue - will be used to support the development of new, more impactful bioengineered plants. Note that the exchange has been edited for length and clarity: User: "I would love to see some numbers and comparisons. As I said in a reply below, I suspect this is functionally ineffectual and that 30x the air cleaning of a regular plant is like saying 30x the intelligence of a regular plant. I suspect this is functioning as a shiny, attractive prototype to fund further research to develop a 300x or 3000x plant or something in that neighbourhood. No judgment from me for that, prototype funding a bigger plan is a cool business model. I'd just love to get some absolute data." Reply: "Patrick here, CTO of Neoplants, thanks you so much for spending the time learning about what we've built...Even though our first product, Neo P1, is "only" 30x better than normal indoor plants, it's already a great improvement over anything that's been done in the scientific literature to date (usually improving phytoremediation by 2 or 3x), and this is just the start of the adventure. As you said, we expect to continue to leverage our metabolism and microbiome engineering technologies to have even more performant [sic] plants every year." Indeed, in other public commentary, such as in their Wired interview, representatives from Neoplants have spoken of using bioengineering to develop new plant variants that address other pressing societal needs, such as enhanced rates of carbon capture and absorbing toxins in contaminated environments. Neoplants also invests $20 from the sale of each Neo P1 to fund further research and development aimed at addressing climate change. Ethical analysis-10 marks Drawing on the material outlined in the background to this question, describe the ethical tension associated with Neoplants' current claims and future aspirations. As part of your answer, outline a strategy for how you would seek to address this tension. Background Independent research on non-bioengineered plants has found that 10 - 1,000 plants per m of floor space (about the space you have around a chair) would be required to remove VOCS from an indoor environment (Cummings & Waring, 2020). If these values were applied to Neoplants' claim that the Neo P1 removes 30 times the VOCs of regular plants, then around 0.3-33.3 Neo P1 plants per m of floor space would be needed to remove VOCs from an indoor space. For a living room with 25 m of floor space, this would mean purchasing 8- 833 Neo P1 plants at an upfront cost of between AU$2,160 and AU$224,910, although costs would be significantly lower if cuttings from one plant were used to make new plants. Neoplants' website doesn't mention these figures. Instead, the website claims that the Neo P1 is "The first and only plant built to purify the air in your home." They also use the tagline "Fighting air pollution. One home at a time." and claim that the Neo P1 is "Good for the world, gorgeous for your home. This is a superplant with superpowers." In media interviews, the company is more cautious. Lionel Mora, one of Neoplant's co- founders, mentioned in an interview with Wired that the Neo P1 "will be the first time in history that such a product exists...The first computers, they weren't so great. But they were revolutionary." An online exchange between a user of the Y Combinator message board and the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Neoplants also alludes to the fact that learnings from developing the Neo P1 - alongside associated sales revenue - will be used to support the development of new, more impactful bioengineered plants. Note that the exchange has been edited for length and clarity: User: "I would love to see some numbers and comparisons. As I said in a reply below, I suspect this is functionally ineffectual and that 30x the air cleaning of a regular plant is like saying 30x the intelligence of a regular plant. I suspect this is functioning as a shiny, attractive prototype to fund further research to develop a 300x or 3000x plant or something in that neighbourhood. No judgment from me for that, prototype funding a bigger plan is a cool business model. I'd just love to get some absolute data." Reply: "Patrick here, CTO of Neoplants, thanks you so much for spending the time learning about what we've built...Even though our first product, Neo P1, is "only" 30x better than normal indoor plants, it's already a great improvement over anything that's been done in the scientific literature to date (usually improving phytoremediation by 2 or 3x), and this is just the start of the adventure. As you said, we expect to continue to leverage our metabolism and microbiome engineering technologies to have even more performant [sic] plants every year." Indeed, in other public commentary, such as in their Wired interview, representatives from Neoplants have spoken of using bioengineering to develop new plant variants that address other pressing societal needs, such as enhanced rates of carbon capture and absorbing toxins in contaminated environments. Neoplants also invests $20 from the sale of each Neo P1 to fund further research and development aimed at addressing climate change. Ethical analysis-10 marks Drawing on the material outlined in the background to this question, describe the ethical tension associated with Neoplants' current claims and future aspirations. As part of your answer, outline a strategy for how you would seek to address this tension.
Expert Answer:
Related Book For
Posted Date:
Students also viewed these marketing questions
-
Describe how to construct the function cpo ((D E), v) of two cpos (D, vD) and (E, vE). Prove that ((D E), v) is a cpo. (You may use facts about least upper bounds provided you state them clearly.)...
-
Natureview Farm It was a crisp Vermont morning in February 2000. Christine Walker, vice president of marketing for Natureview Farm, Inc., a small yogurt manufacturer, paused to collect her thoughts...
-
To meet the demand for parking, your town has allocated the area shown here. As the town engineer, you have been asked by the town council to find out if the lot can be built for $11,000. The cost to...
-
Define electrolyte, add. base, and salt.
-
An alkane (A) with the formula C 6 H 14 reacts with chlorine to yield three compounds with the formula C 6 H 13 Cl: B, C, and D. Of these only C and D undergo dehydrohalogenation with sodium ethoxide...
-
The Nielsen family formed their corporation, N. Robert Nielsen, Inc., to conduct farming operations. Morre, Grider & Co. is a certified public accounting firm that has provided accounting, tax, and...
-
Shown here is an income statement in the traditional format for a firm with a sales volume of 20,000 units: Revenues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
-
Why, in fact, does Marxism breed regimes which are totalitarian in nature? How does multiculturalism at play?
-
Calculate market share index for a company that has 70% customer awareness, out of which 75% find it attractive, 40% think the price is OK, 60% intend to buy and 50% actually purchase. Enter your...
-
Planet Fitness. Membership Fees Annual, Yearly, and Specials. Equipment does all planet fitnesses have the same membership?
-
What is a cross functional team? Discuss the benefits of a cross functional team. Use some examples of how they can improve overall productivity.
-
How does compensation relate to Quantitative within an organization? How does Employee Turnover relate to Qualitative within an organization?
-
What types of laws or regulations do the state Connecticut control regarding healthcare?
-
Before anyone begins to plan a meeting, they need to know what services are available in their community. Gather information on various social service agencies in your community. Internet searches...
-
ABC Company is considering whether to open a new distribution center. The center would open January 1, 2015. To make the decision, the planning committee requires a master budget for the centers...
-
Pappa's Appliances uses the periodic inventory system. Details regarding the inventory of appliances at January 1, purchases invoices during the year, and the inventory count at December 31 are...
-
Find an equation of the sphere that passes through the point (4, 3, -1) and has center (3, 8, 1).
-
Find the derivative. Simplify where possible. F(t) = ln(sinh t)
-
Determine whether the statement is true or false. If it is true, explain why. If it is false, explain why or give an example that disproves the statement. If c n x n is convergent, then c n (-6) n is...
-
Which mechanism of bacterial genetic transfer does not require recombination with the bacterial chromosome?
-
Explain why small deletions and duplications are less likely than large ones to have a detrimental effect on an individuals phenotype. If a small deletion within a single chromosome happens to have a...
-
Explain why inversions and reciprocal translocations do not usually cause a phenotypic effect. Then explain how they can do so in certain cases.
Study smarter with the SolutionInn App