From stealth bombers to the secrets of plants for Auckland doctor

By LIAM DANN, primary industries editor

He helped the US military put the 'stealth' in stealth bomber - now Aucklander Dr Peter Lee has come home to take on one of the most ambitious business challenges ever attempted in this country.

After a 27-year career in the United States, which culminated as vice-president of research and development for corporate giant International Paper, Lee now heads AgriGenesis - the plant science offshoot of listed biotech company Genesis.

AgriGenesis' most exciting project is all about using biotechnology to turn plants into an alternative fuel that could one day replace oil.

"We believe the economics will be such that the oil age will not end because we run out of oil, but because we will have found a better source of energy and petrochemicals," Lee declares in his gentle half American, half Kiwi accent.

It might sound far-fetched but Lee is no novice in overseeing futuristic projects.

His researchers at International Paper played a key role in the development of the US military's anti-radar Stealth Bomber.

"The stealth in the Stealth Bomber came out of our lab. It was a good, sexy story for International Paper."

The connection between a high-tech paper laboratory and a radar cloaking device was not as weird as it might seem.

"Paper absorbs light and then re-emits into certain wave lengths.

"The science of taking a porous medium, absorbing radiation and turning it into a different radiation was one of our stock and trades. That's what radar evasion is all about."

A large part of Lee's portfolio was to develop new ventures that were too embryonic to be put out into business units.

One product was the development of paper that allows consumers to print good quality digital photographs at home.

But after 15 years at International Paper he was ready for a change.

"I was at a stage of my life where the children had just left home and I was looking for something different to do."

It was after reading an article by Helen Clark - written during the Knowledge Wave conference - that he was inspired to check out the options back home.

"I networked around and met Jim Watson and he described a portfolio of new plant technology that had been developed by Genesis. I was impressed."

AgriGenesis, now a standalone company, has eight key technologies based on understanding the genetics and cellular structure of plants.

Lee's first six months in the job have been about consolidating that portfolio of technologies and identifying likely customers and investment partners for them.

In the US the company has run consumer focus groups among scientists and industry leaders.

"We were surprised by the value they saw ... they developed business plans for us."

The initial research will be followed up next month with a promotional campaign in the US.

"What seems to be getting a lot of early interest from investors is the focus on sustainable manufacturing.

"The first wave of biotech was medical, the second wave was agri-biotech and the third wave, which is just cresting, is the industrial use of biotech."

AgriGenesis could compete in that third wave because it had a 10-year history of working with plant-based material for the forestry and agricultural sectors.

In other words it had the science, but it needed to develop products the world wants.

AgriGenesis needs partners to achieve this. Right now it has intellectual property, but its annual revenue is just $5 million.

Lee believes ArborGen - the locally developed biotech company, which is working to develop easy pulping logs - offers a good model.

The Arborgen consortium includes Rubicon, Genesis and US companies Mead Westvaco and International Paper.

AgriGenesis has just a 5 per cent stake in the company, but is well positioned to earn licensing fees because it is providing the technology for potential products.

"We find ourselves spending a lot of time offshore. That's not to put New Zealand down. That's just where the markets are."

He said AgriGenesis was a global company with global products.

There is a long way to go but there is one thing he is sure of - "New Zealand is going to benefit from this."

WHAT IT WILL SELL

* Biofuels and polymers: petrol and plastics made from plants.

* Phloem technology: to control the internal switches that determine plant behaviour (like when to flower).

* Plant anti-freeze: the proteins that keep grass alive even when frozen can be applied to valuable crops and even industrial processes, like icecream making.

* Smart trees: by manipulating lignin levels trees can produce softer or harder wood depending on the planned use.

* Grasses: easy digesting grass to improve animal growth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

* Cartesian: a software product that stores genomic data.

* Botrytis control: a bio-control for grape disease.