Limburgerhof, Germany and San Diego, California
July 10, 2007
- BASF to expand weed management
portfolio with Cibus’ RTDS™ (Rapid Trait Development System)
- Innovative new technology speeds up conventional breeding
process
- First project in winter oil seed rape and canola
BASF and
Cibus, a US plant breeding
technology company, today announced that they have reached a
collaborative agreement to develop and commercialize non-GM
herbicide tolerance in oilseed rape and canola. Cibus’
proprietary gene conversion technology, known as the Rapid
Trait Development System (RTDS™), will be used to enhance the
CLEARFIELD® Production System in oilseed rape and canola. The
agreement provides an opportunity for enhanced value to be
deliv-ered to BASF customers and to increase revenue for both
companies. The companies did not disclose the terms of the
agreement.
“RTDS™ is a novel plant breeding technology that enables seed
producers to develop plants with commercially valuable
characteristics such as herbicide tolerance,” said Cibus
President Keith Walker. “RTDS™ introduces the required genetic
trait through a natural process of gene repair within the same
plant species.”
The technology operates exclusively within the genome of the
plant, just like conventional plant breeding, but with shorter
development times. Traits developed with RTDS™ technology will
give growers a greater selection of non-genetically modified
herbicide-tolerance solutions to choose from. This is
particularly important in Europe, where very few genetically
modified products have been approved for commercial use by the
regulatory authorities. BASF also develops genetically modified
herbicide tolerant crops.
The joint project will enhance the value provided to the market
by BASF’s unique herbicide tolerant cropping system, the
CLEARFIELD® Production System. The CLEARFIELD Production System
combines agronomically advanced seed varieties and
custom-designed imidazolinone herbicides to provide extended
grass and broadleaf weed control.
Alyson Emanuel, BASF Director, Global Strategic Marketing
Herbicides said, “We believe that Cibus has developed a
step-change improvement in technology. Cibus’ plant breeding
technology will enhance BASF’s powerful pipeline of active
ingredients and value added traits for crop protection. It is
ideally suited to meet the needs of our customers and presents a
unique value proposition in key markets.”
“Cibus’ RTDS™ plant breeding technology constitutes a genuine
break-through for agriculture. Cibus has established that
advanced traits can be achieved in crops using the plant’s
natural processes. We are especially pleased to work with BASF
on winter oilseed rape and canola in as much as these crops are
now among the fastest growing commercial crops in terms of
hectares under production in Europe and North America.
Biodiesel demand along with the quest for healthier food oils
are driving the expansion of these important crops on both
continents,” said Cibus Chairman Stephen Evans-Freke.
About CLEARFIELD®
The CLEARFIELD® Production System has been used extensively
since 1995. The system matches carefully selected advanced seed
varieties/hybrids with custom-designed imidazolinone herbicides.
All CLEARFIELD varieties and hybrids are recog-nized as
non-genetically modified by international authorities. At the
present time, BASF possesses the world’s largest portfolio of
non-genetically modified herbicide tolerant traits and has
established relationships with over 100 seed companies
throughout the world. This strategy of worldwide alliances
supports the program with an unmatched offering of seed
alternatives to meet the specific local needs and preferences of
individ-ual growers.
With sales of €3,298 million in 2005, BASF’s Agricultural
Products division is a leader in crop protection and a strong
partner to the farming industry providing well-established and
innovative fungicides, insecticides and herbicides. Farmers use
these products and services to improve crop yields and crop
quality. Other uses include public health, structural/urban
pest control, turf and ornamental plants, vegetation management,
and for-estry. BASF aims to turn knowledge rapidly into market
success. The vision of BASF’s Agricultural Products division is
to be the world’s leading innovator, optimizing agricultural
production, improving nutrition, and thus enhancing the quality
of life for a growing world population. Further information can
be found on the web at
www.agro.basf.com.
BASF uses biotechnology to optimize plants with the following
objectives: more efficient agriculture, renewable raw materials
for specialty products and healthier nutrition.
BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical
Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics,
performance products, agricultural products and fine chemicals
to crude oil and natural gas. As a reliable partner to virtually
all industries, BASF’s intelligent system solutions and
high-value products help its customers to be more successful.
BASF develops new technologies and uses them to open up
additional market opportunities. It combines economic success
with environmental protection and social responsibility, thus
contributing to a better future. BASF has over 95,000 employees
and posted sales of more than €42.7 billion (approximately $50.4
billion) in 2005. Further information on BASF is available on
the Internet at www.basf.com.
About RTDS™
RTDS™ technology produces changes within a plant species that
could only occur in nature, but does so in a directed way.
Thanks in part to recent developments in genome mapping, RTDSTM
is, like plant biotechnology, significantly more precise and
much faster than conventional hit-and-miss plant breeding.
The RTDS™ process, known as directed mutagenesis, works through
the cell’s natural process of gene repair. Every time a cell
copies DNA, it makes “scrivener” errors or spelling mistakes.
These variations happen all the time, which is how natural
variation occurs. Cibus’ technology harnesses the cell’s own
natural DNA repair machinery to correct such spelling mistakes,
thus directing DNA repair enzymes to correct and repair the
targeted gene in a specific way in order to produce a desired
trait. The process, in its precision, is similar to altering a
single letter in a word contained within a large book.
Cibus LLC is a privately held San Diego-based trait development
company. Cibus produces environmentally friendly crop traits for
the agricultural community that do not carry the regulatory
burden of plant biotechnology. The Company accomplishes this
through the application of a new and proprietary technology
called the Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS), which has
proven itself in the laboratory with several different crops,
and in initial field trials of Cibus’ first commercial crop.
Further information on Cibus can be found on the Web at
www.cibusllc.com.
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