Agar Agar for the future

“Agar agar for the future”

Valerio Guidolin “Diflora” is a laboratory specialized in the in vitro tissue culture of plants.

Initially growing primarily carnivorous plants, as of 2019 it offers methods of reproduction and conservation of several species of plants.

As opposed to traditional culture techniques, in vitro culture allows for the preservation of the soil’s sterility in Agar agar gel-based cultures. It’s a form of asexual reproduction via induction of hormones which can potentially produce an infinite number of clones of the same mother plant.

If combined with the efforts of local protection projects, in vitro culture can mean the genetic conservation of several species of plants at risk of extinction. The 2016 report “State of the World’s Plant and Fungi” by the Royal Botanic Gardens estimates that 39.4% of the world’s plant species are under threat of extinction. The Nepenthes clipeata, for example, is the most at-risk species of its kind, barely numbering in 18 specimens as of 2020.

The project “Agar agar for the future” aims at shining a light on in vitro tissue culture and its crucial role in species preservation.