Donald Danforth Plant Science Center researchers enter into research collaboration with Dow AgroSciences

Jan 13 2010

Researchers working at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have entered into a research collaboration with Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), to study how its EXZACT^TM Precision Technology can help improve the root crop cassava for millions of people living in developing countries.

“EXZACT Precision Technology can help solve the complex technical issues facing these research programs. The Danforth Plant Science Center is a globally recognized leader in this area. They are doing outstanding, significant work, and we want to help them be successful.”

Dow AgroSciences’ EXZACT™ Precision Technology provides a versatile and comprehensive toolkit for targeted genome modification in plants. Its demonstrated ability to specifically and efficiently add, edit or delete genes at targeted locations in plant genomes delivers a means for engineering multi-gene stacks, editing native genes and more efficiently producing crops with enhanced plant performance and value-added traits such as improved nutrition.

As part of the collaboration, researchers at the Danforth Center will generate data demonstrating the utility of what could be a key technology in its quest to improve nutritional value and virus resistance in farmer preferred varieties of the root crop cassava. Dow AgroSciences is donating its technology to this effort and providing access to intellectual property, validated, high-quality zinc-finger reagents, and expertise through free consultation with Dow AgroSciences’ EXZACT^TM Scientific Leader, Dr. Vipula Shukla.

Targeted transgene insertion and genome editing represents the future of plant biotechnology. This announcement comes on the heels of the Danforth Center’s recent success in completing the cassava genome sequence.

Cassava serves as the primary food source for more than 750 million people each day. While also an important source of local income for small farmers across much of Africa, Asia and Latin America, cassava production and use is limited by several constraints. The starchy storage roots have poor nutritional content and the plant is susceptible to a number of pathogens. This is particularly the case in Africa, where one third of the continental harvest is lost each year to viral diseases; with Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) currently emerging as the major threat to food security in some parts of Eastern Africa. Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) alone accounts for 35 million tons of yield loss in Africa, with an estimated value of nearly $1 billion per year.

“This collaboration with Dow AgroSciences builds on the significant work and expertise in place at the Danforth Center. Coupled with the completion of the cassava genome sequence, we see many pieces coming together that will contribute to our goal of enhancing food security for millions of malnourished people living in developing countries. We are grateful to Dow AgroSciences for their willingness to share this exciting new technology with us,” said Nigel Taylor, Ph.D, assistant research member, Danforth Plant Science Center, who is leading the project.

“In the context of global agriculture, there is a significant need to enhance cassava production and nutrition to feed people in developing countries,” said Antonio Galindez, President and CEO of Dow AgroSciences. “EXZACT Precision Technology can help solve the complex technical issues facing these research programs. The Danforth Plant Science Center is a globally recognized leader in this area. They are doing outstanding, significant work, and we want to help them be successful.”