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St.
Louis, Missouri
May 30, 2006
Divergence, Inc.
announced that it has been awarded three Small Business
Innovation Research ("SBIR") Phase I grants - two from the
National Science Foundation ("NSF") and one from the United
States Department of Agriculture ("USDA") - totaling $280,000.
Jennifer Jones, Ph.D., Senior Scientist for Divergence is the
Principal Investigator on grants from both the NSF and USDA.
Michelle Hresko, Ph.D., Senior Director of Discovery Research,
is the Principal Investigator on a second NSF grant. The three
projects develop complementary aspects of a new platform
technology in transgenic plants that Divergence is first
applying to parasitic nematode infections.
"These grants enable Divergence to accelerate its
proof-of-concept work on a powerful new technology in transgenic
nematode control that likely has broad applications in crop
traits," said James P. McCarter, M.D., Ph.D., Divergence's
President and Chief Scientific Officer. "We are pleased that
scientists serving on both NSF and USDA review panels shared our
enthusiasm for the approach and the data generated to date. We
are hopeful that discoveries made by Divergence will lead to the
first safe, broadly applicable products for the prevention of
nematode damage in crops."
Since 2001, Divergence has been awarded 12 SBIR grants totaling
over $2.5 million.
Divergence is a research and development company dedicated to
the discovery of effective and ecologically sound strategies for
the control of parasites and other pests. The company's initial
focus is on parasitic nematodes, one of the world's major pest
groups. Nematodes are roundworms that cause billions of dollars
in damage annually to numerous crops, including soybeans,
cotton, strawberries, and bananas. Nematodes also cause
widespread disease in animals, including infections such as
heartworm in dogs and cats and intestinal worms in livestock.
Nematode-induced human diseases include elephantiasis and
African river blindness.
For more information on Divergence, visit
www.divergence.com. |
