Gene Weaver selected as ARIA R&D Creator to tackle 50-year-old mitochondrial engineering challenge
Cambridge, UK — Gene Weaver Ltd has been selected as an R&D Creator on the Advanced Research + Invention Agency's (ARIA) Precision Mitochondria programme, a national, multi-year initiative backed by up to £66m and led by Programme Director Ryan Olf. Gene Weaver has been awarded funding from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency to pursue its project as part of the programme.
Cambridge, UK - 9 September 2026
The Precision Mitochondria programme addresses a problem that has remained unsolved in molecular genetics: building a reliable, shared toolkit for engineering the mitochondrial genome. Unlike the nucleus, mitochondria have proven remarkably resistant to genetic engineering. Existing techniques such as CRISPR, which have transformed how scientists study bacterial and nuclear DNA, have simply not translated to these tightly guarded structures within our cells.
Gene Weaver's project builds on a programmable gene-insertion technology adapted from naturally occurring mobile genetic elements, which the team believes are uniquely well suited to taking hold and persisting within the mitochondrial genome, addressing one of the central obstacles that has stalled the field.
"Mitochondrial engineering has been called one of the last major unsolved problems in molecular genetics," said Niall Armes, Project Lead at Gene Weaver. "We're excited to bring our technology to bear on a challenge like this, working alongside ARIA and the wider Precision Mitochondria community."
Unlocking reliable mitochondrial engineering would give researchers a powerful new way to investigate the role mitochondria play in a range of debilitating diseases, as well as broader questions in cellular biology and ageing. The immediate ambition of the programme is to establish shared research tools, methods, and evidence for the wider scientific community — not a specific clinical treatment or cure.
The project is one of 19 selected across ARIA's Precision Mitochondria programme, which will run for up to five years.
About Gene Weaver
Gene Weaver is a Cambridge-based biotech company founded in 2023 by Dr Niall Armes, inventor of Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA). The company is developing a programmable gene-insertion platform, adapted from a naturally occurring genetic mechanism, that inserts large genetic payloads with high specificity and target flexibility, and without relying on the double-strand breaks used by many conventional gene-editing approaches. It enables precise, efficient insertion even in cells that have traditionally been difficult to engineer.
About ARIA
ARIA is an R&D funding agency created to unlock technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. Created by an Act of Parliament and sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, ARIA funds teams of scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of what is scientifically and technologically possible.
Media contact:
Craig Smith, craig@gene-weaver.co.uk
ARIA contact:
Bethany Eldridge, bethany.eldridge@aria.org.uk