BryoSphere
Using moss to make environmentally-friendly rare specialty chemicals
About Bryosphere
What does BryoSphere do?
BryoSphere Biotechnologies uses moss plants and biotechnology techniques to make rare, plant-derived specialty chemicals for various sectors, including personal care, supplements, therapeutics, and food & beverage.
Why moss?
Moss has been around for almost 500 million years! These ancient plants started making a variety of compounds to protect themselves from the sun's UV radiation as they evolved to grow on land. By using biotechnology techniques, we can make moss plants that produce rare phytochemicals at high yields.
Our mission
Our goal is to create a scalable platform that can supply rare, toxin-free, sustainably-made ingredients for businesses operating in a wide range of industries.
The Science
BryoSphere production process
Simply put, we take DNA from a plant that produces low amounts of a rare specialty chemical. We put this DNA into lab-grown moss and grow the moss in liquid batches. The moss makes large quantities of the target chemical, which we then extract and purify! Our method is safe, eco-friendly, and meets the standard of good manufacturing practices (GMP).
The team
Hila Behar, Ph.D.
Hila Behar, Ph.D.
Hila Behar, Ph.D.
Co-founder & CEO
With eight years of experience working in laboratories, Dr. Behar has extensive knowledge of coordinating and carrying out scientific research projects. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia where she conducted multidisciplinary research projects in plant biochemistry and protein characterization. Additionally, she established a moss research centre and generated modified moss strains for the synthesis of enzymes with potential applications in biofuels.
Liz Mahon, Ph.D.
Hila Behar, Ph.D.
Hila Behar, Ph.D.
Co-founder & CSO
Dr. Mahon has over seven years of experience as a research scientist in plant genetics and biochemistry and has earned both a M.Sc. and Ph.D. Her work has focused on using biotechnology tools to address climate change issues. As part of her doctoral degree at UBC, she successfully engineered several novel biochemical pathways into target plant systems to improve overall feedstock value for biofuel applications. She has extensive experience across a wide array of molecular biology and biochemistry techniques.
Aaron Davey
Hila Behar, Ph.D.
Richard Gibson, M.Sc.
Advisor
Aaron Davey is a successful technology entrepreneur and advisor to technical founders building cutting-edge technology ventures. He has two successful exits and has over a span of 20 years, brought to market numerous innovative products. Aaron has extensive expertise in team facilitation, company growth, product management, and strategic planning.
Richard Gibson, M.Sc.
Richard Gibson, M.Sc.
Richard Gibson, M.Sc.
Advisor
Richard Gibson has over 30 years of plant science innovation experience in private, multi-national and government R&D organizations with leadership roles in agricultural field research, enterprise and information architecture, bioindustrial innovation, marketing, investment attraction, product and business development.
He has extensive experience in strategy development, proposal, project and program creation, negotiation and implementation in both public and private sector environments. He is an avid bryophyte photographer and excited to be part of the BryoSphere’s advisory team.
Nav Chahal, M.Sc.
Richard Gibson, M.Sc.
Nav Chahal, M.Sc.
Advisor
Nav is an executive with over 16 years of experience focusing on leadership, operations, and delivery of leading-edge industry projects. She has led large formal project management processes and strategic plans that fuel performance and build team capacity. Nav is adept at maintaining high employee engagement and addressing roadblocks to meet objectives. She is an experienced public speaker, able to present challenging material to both technical and non-technical audiences.
