Currently, biotech developers transform plants to produce foreign proteins by directing genes into the nucleus of cells. Chlorogen has invented a way to express proteins in the chloroplasts of plant cells, achieving much higher production of potentially lifesaving therapeutic proteins.

Chlorogen's proprietary chloroplast transformation technology (CTT™) facilitates hyper-expression of recombinant proteins in tobacco chloroplasts. CTT™ is based on the inherent nature of chloroplasts to hyper-express genes during plant leaf development. Each plant cell contains approximately 100 chloroplasts, each of which can have up to 100 copies of the total plant genome (all the genes within the plant and the proteins they produce). Therefore, a single cell can produce up to 10,000 copies of a specific protein, as opposed to only one or two in the single cell nucleus. The chloroplast has the capability to assemble complex proteins such as monoclonal antibodies and human cell regulators. Therefore, CTT™ has potential to be a most efficient method of producing important therapeutic proteins in plants.
      Since the 1980s, the use of human proteins to cure diseases has comprised an increasingly significant sector of the pharmaceutical industry. In the next 20 years therapeutics are estimated to comprise 30 percent of total pharmaceutical sales or $18 billion. In contrast to therapeutic drugs that are chemically synthesized, the majority of therapeutic proteins must be produced in a living organism. The cell bioreactor-based systems currently used (which transform bacteria or animal cells in costly sterile facilities) will strain the capital and capacity available in the industry. A novel manufacturing system using plants as bioreactors can address the growing demands of the healthcare industry for these protein-based therapies. Chloroplast transformation technology, which can deliver low cost, stable and quality proteins, represents the future of plant-made proteins.