Scoville Splice // Cross-species capsaicinoid engineering
Beyond Peppers.
The Capsaicin Design Platform extends from Capsicum to 17 non-pepper organisms across 7 plant families. 57 named cultivar specifications — a spicy tomato, a spicy strawberry, a spicy rice.
57
Named products
17
Target organisms
7
Plant families
4
Engineering tiers
The thesis
Capsaicin is not a pepper problem.
The capsaicinoid biosynthesis pathway is a modular secondary metabolic system. The upstream phenylpropanoid branch (PAL → C4H → 4CL → HCT → COMT) is present in every vascular plant on Earth — it already feeds lignin, flavonoids, and other secondary metabolism.
Only 4 terminal pepper-specific enzymes — pAMT, Pun1/CS, KAS, BCAT — must be introduced into a target organism. The ESM2-engineered Pun1 variants, the FBA model, the blend optimizer, the construct assembly system: all transfer directly. The only new work per organism is codon re-optimization, tissue-specific promoter selection, and species-validated transformation protocols.
5 of 7 platform modules work unchanged for any organism. The platform is organism-independent at the protein level.
Four engineering tiers
Low-hanging fruit to the frontier.
Low-Hanging Fruit
Solanaceae Core
- 4-5 heterologous genes
- 88-92% synteny with pepper
- 18-24 months to first fruit
- 5,000 — 1,000,000 SHU
Nightshade family shares a recent common ancestor with Capsicum. Tomato, eggplant, and tobacco carry the complete upstream phenylpropanoid pathway at high expression; only 4 terminal pepper-specific enzymes must be introduced.
TOM // Volcanic / Geothermal
Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Volcanic Series · 5 products
EGG // Dark / Cosmic
Eggplant
Solanum melongena
Dark Matter Series · 5 products
TOB // Laboratory / Validation
Tobacco
Nicotiana benthamiana / N. tabacum
Laboratory Series · 3 products
Achievable
Extended Nightshades & Physalis
- 5-7 heterologous genes
- 82-86% synteny
- 24-36 months
- 1,000 — 500,000 SHU
Still within the Solanaceae family or close relatives, but present additional challenges: tuber storage (potato), less-developed genomic resources (ground cherry, tomatillo), and ornamental use (petunia for floral tissue proof-of-concept).
POT // Seismic / Underground
Potato
Solanum tuberosum
Seismic Series · 5 products
GCH // Celestial / Solar
Ground Cherry
Physalis peruviana
Celestial Series · 3 products
TIL // Acid / Chemical
Tomatillo
Physalis philadelphica
Acid Series · 3 products
PET // Floral / Ornamental
Petunia
Petunia × hybrida
Floral Series · 2 products
Hard
Cross-Family Engineering
- 7-10 heterologous genes
- cross-family
- 36-48 months
- 500 — 100,000 SHU
Different plant families (Rosaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Asteraceae). The full vanillylamine branch and condensation step must be introduced heterologously. Multi-gene stacking (8-10 cassettes on T-DNA) and synthetic biology are required.
STR // Sweet Heat / Dessert
Strawberry
Fragaria × ananassa
Sweet Heat Series · 4 products
CUC // Cool / Contradiction
Cucumber
Cucumis sativus
Contradiction Series · 3 products
MEL // Summer / Solar
Melon & Watermelon
Cucumis melo / Citrullus lanatus
Solar Series · 3 products
APL // Mythological / Forbidden
Apple
Malus domestica
Forbidden Series · 3 products
LET // Stealth / Espionage
Lettuce
Lactuca sativa
Espionage Series · 3 products
Frontier
Full Synthetic Pathway
- 10-12 heterologous genes
- <30% synteny
- 48-72 months
- 100 — 10,000 SHU
Evolutionarily distant from Capsicum, with fundamentally different secondary metabolism and severe transformation challenges. The complete capsaicinoid pathway must be installed as a synthetic gene cluster — long-term research targets.
CAR // Geological / Deep Earth
Carrot
Daucus carota
Deep Earth Series · 3 products
BRA // Nuclear / Reaction
Cabbage & Cauliflower
Brassica oleracea
Nuclear Series · 3 products
BRC // Wildfire / Forest
Broccoli
Brassica oleracea var. italica
Wildfire Series · 3 products
CRN // Electrical / Storm
Corn
Zea mays
Storm Series · 3 products
RCE // Ancient / Dynasty
Rice
Oryza sativa
Dynasty Series · 3 products
Master catalog
All 57 products.
| SKU | Name | Organism | Tier | Target SHU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS-TOM-01 | Ember | Tomato | T1 | 5K |
| SS-TOM-02 | Magma | Tomato | T1 | 50K |
| SS-TOM-03 | Pyroclast | Tomato | T1 | 250K |
| SS-TOM-04 | Caldera | Tomato | T1 | 500K |
| SS-TOM-05 | Krakatoa | Tomato | T1 | 1M |
| SS-EGG-01 | Smolder | Eggplant | T1 | 5K |
| SS-EGG-02 | Nightshade | Eggplant | T1 | 50K |
| SS-EGG-03 | Eclipse | Eggplant | T1 | 250K |
| SS-EGG-04 | Obsidian | Eggplant | T1 | 500K |
| SS-EGG-05 | Event Horizon | Eggplant | T1 | 1M |
| SS-TOB-01 | Proof of Concept | Tobacco | T1 | 10K |
| SS-TOB-02 | Benchmark | Tobacco | T1 | 100K |
| SS-TOB-03 | Threshold | Tobacco | T1 | 500K |
| SS-POT-01 | Tremor | Potato | T2 | 1K |
| SS-POT-02 | Fault Line | Potato | T2 | 10K |
| SS-POT-03 | Seismic | Potato | T2 | 50K |
| SS-POT-04 | Tectonic | Potato | T2 | 200K |
| SS-POT-05 | Richter | Potato | T2 | 500K |
| SS-GCH-01 | Spark | Ground Cherry | T2 | 1K |
| SS-GCH-02 | Flare | Ground Cherry | T2 | 25K |
| SS-GCH-03 | Supernova | Ground Cherry | T2 | 100K |
| SS-TIL-01 | Green Fuse | Tomatillo | T2 | 1K |
| SS-TIL-02 | Verde Venom | Tomatillo | T2 | 25K |
| SS-TIL-03 | Acid Rain | Tomatillo | T2 | 100K |
| SS-PET-01 | Petal Burn | Petunia | T2 | 10K |
| SS-PET-02 | Bloom Bomb | Petunia | T2 | 100K |
| SS-STR-01 | Warm Kiss | Strawberry | T3 | 500 |
| SS-STR-02 | Sugar Burn | Strawberry | T3 | 5K |
| SS-STR-03 | Candied Fang | Strawberry | T3 | 25K |
| SS-STR-04 | Devil's Dessert | Strawberry | T3 | 100K |
| SS-CUC-01 | Cool Burn | Cucumber | T3 | 500 |
| SS-CUC-02 | Paradox | Cucumber | T3 | 5K |
| SS-CUC-03 | Contradiction | Cucumber | T3 | 50K |
| SS-MEL-01 | Sunstroke | Melon & Watermelon | T3 | 500 |
| SS-MEL-02 | Heatwave | Melon & Watermelon | T3 | 5K |
| SS-MEL-03 | Solar Flare | Melon & Watermelon | T3 | 50K |
| SS-APL-01 | Forbidden Bite | Apple | T3 | 500 |
| SS-APL-02 | Serpent's Gift | Apple | T3 | 5K |
| SS-APL-03 | Original Sin | Apple | T3 | 50K |
| SS-LET-01 | Sleeper Agent | Lettuce | T3 | 500 |
| SS-LET-02 | Trojan Leaf | Lettuce | T3 | 5K |
| SS-LET-03 | Silent Alarm | Lettuce | T3 | 50K |
| SS-CAR-01 | Core Sample | Carrot | T4 | 100 |
| SS-CAR-02 | Drill Bit | Carrot | T4 | 1K |
| SS-CAR-03 | Mantle | Carrot | T4 | 10K |
| SS-BRA-01 | Crucible | Cabbage & Cauliflower | T4 | 100 |
| SS-BRA-02 | Cold Fusion | Cabbage & Cauliflower | T4 | 1K |
| SS-BRA-03 | Chain Reaction | Cabbage & Cauliflower | T4 | 10K |
| SS-BRC-01 | Brushfire | Broccoli | T4 | 100 |
| SS-BRC-02 | Crown Fire | Broccoli | T4 | 1K |
| SS-BRC-03 | Firestorm | Broccoli | T4 | 10K |
| SS-CRN-01 | Static | Corn | T4 | 100 |
| SS-CRN-02 | Lightning Strike | Corn | T4 | 1K |
| SS-CRN-03 | Thunderclap | Corn | T4 | 10K |
| SS-RCE-01 | Ember Grain | Rice | T4 | 100 |
| SS-RCE-02 | Dragon's Portion | Rice | T4 | 1K |
| SS-RCE-03 | Dynasty | Rice | T4 | 10K |
Interest & licensing
Lock a Beyond Peppers organism before it ships.
Beyond Peppers specifications are complete; engineering is pending engineering deliverables. Early partners can reserve organism or sector licenses now.