Phytodyne, Inc. has received grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) to fund further research on its proprietary gene modification technology.

The USDA has awarded the company $80,000 for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant for development of a "Transposable element-based, site-specific recombination system for plants." This gene editing technology will enable scientists to rearrange a plant's existing genes to create new crop varieties with enhanced quality and production.

The IDED has granted Phytodyne an Entrepreneurial Venture Assistance (EVA) award of $60,000 to accelerate project development, fund the cost of regulatory compliance for the technology and introduce gene editing technology to international markets.

"One of the most important limitations in plant biotechnology is the lack of efficient methods to edit genes," said Dan Voytas, president and co-founder of Phytodyne. "Phytodyne's gene editing technology will accelerate the creation of novel plant varieties for agricultural, pharmaceutical and industrial use."

Traditional plant transformation methods can introduce single genes to create transgenic plants, a laborious and time consuming process. With Phytodyne's gene editing technology, plant breeders will modify whole suites of genes tapping into a plant's natural biosynthetic capacity to produce valuable compounds.

USDA SBIR grants are awarded on a competitive basis to support high-quality research proposals containing advanced concepts related to important scientific problems and opportunities in agriculture. The Iowa EVA program awards financial and technical assistance to early-stage Iowa technology companies in industries offering the greatest start-up and growth potential for the state.

Phytodyne develops innovative plant genome modification technologies and is the first company to emerge from the Iowa State University Plant Sciences Institute.