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HomePosts Tagged "Cibus"
Agri Genomics, Collaborations, Company News, R&D, World

Biographica’s proprietary AI platform linked with Cibus’ crop editing abilities provide opportunities for discovery and commercial application.

Cibus, Inc., a leading agricultural technology company that develops and licenses plant traits to seed companies for royalties, and Biographica, a UK-based leader in AI and graph machine learning for gene discovery, are pleased to announce a collaborative pilot project focused on advancing disease resistance in oilseed rape and Canola.

This partnership leverages Biographica’s proprietary platform to identify and prioritise targets for gene editing, aiming to develop resistance against critical diseases impacting crop health, yield and quality. Under this agreement, Biographica will utilise its cutting-edge AI and machine learning technology to analyse gene targets associated with disease resistance in oilseed rape and Canola and set the stage for future crop improvement strategies.

“This collaboration marks a significant milestone in unlocking the potential of advanced machine learning for agricultural innovation,” said Cecy Price, CEO at Biographica. “Combining Biographica’s unique machine learning trait discovery platform with Cibus’ expertise in crop trait development allows us to unlock new insights into disease resistance, paving the way for more resilient crops and sustainable agricultural practices.”

Tony Moran, Senior Vice President for International Development at Cibus, added, “We are excited to work alongside Biographica to identify impactful gene targets, enabling the development of crop varieties that can withstand disease pressure in the field with benefits for farmers, the environment, and food security.”

Dr. Greg Gocal, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, added, “We have made plant disease resistance an important pillar of our work. This is a critically important need in farming. Developing durable disease resistance in plants will require identifying multiple modes of action. This partnership with Biographica is an important extension of our work in building our inventory of gene targets associated with developing different modes of action for this important trait.”

The collaboration reflects a commitment by both companies to push the boundaries of crop science and contribute to sustainable agriculture. This pilot project has the potential to accelerate the delivery of improved crop varieties with advanced disease resistant traits to farmers worldwide.

Biographica’s proprietary AI platform linked with Cibus’

Agri Genomics, Agrotech, Company News, R&D

 The new company will facilitate trait development and next-generation plant breeding

Calyxt, Inc.  a plant-based synthetic biology company, and Cibus, a leader in precision gene editing in agriculture, announced that both companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Calyxt and Cibus will merge in an all-stock transaction. The merger will create a new industry-leading company that combines the two pioneers in agriculture-based gene editing and establishes one of the world’s most sophisticated facilities for trait development and next-generation plant breeding.

The combined company will be a leader in two key applications for gene editing in agriculture:

Productivity Traits:

 Productivity traits are a key basis of competition in the “seed and trait” business. The key focus of Cibus’ patented gene editing platform, the Rapid Trait Development System™ (RTDS®), is the development of a new class of productivity traits in seeds addressing the sustainability of farming by increasing crop yields and reducing inputs such as fungicides, herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers.

Renewable Low-Carbon Ingredients:

Gene editing is a key tool in the development of sustainable low-carbon ingredients that can replace fossil fuel-based ingredients and diesel fuel. This is a key pillar of the Net Carbon Zero Climate 2040 goals and the global movement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Cibus has a broad pipeline of productivity traits and collaborations with several leading seed companies. It is currently launching three important productivity traits: one in canola and two in rice with transfers to customers for commercialization beginning in the first half of 2023. In addition, Cibus and Calyxt are both working with leading consumer product companies to develop more sustainable ingredients.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Calyxt will issue shares of its common stock to Cibus shareholders in an exchange ratio such that upon completion of the merger, Calyxt shareholders will own approximately 5 per cent of the combined company, subject to adjustments permitted by the merger agreement. The Boards of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction. Concurrent with the execution of the merger agreement, certain officers of Calyxt, all of Calyxt’s directors, and Cellectis, S.A., Calyxt’s largest shareholder, executed support agreements in favor of the merger. These support agreements provide 49.9 per cent approval from Calyxt shareholders. A majority of Cibus’ shareholders have also provided support agreements in favor of the transaction. The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval of the merger by the shareholders of Calyxt.

 The new company will facilitate trait development

Agri Genomics, North America, R&D

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted the company a patent for its Pod Shatter Reduction (PSR) Trait.

Cibus, a leader in precision gene editing in agriculture, announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted the company a patent for its Pod Shatter Reduction (PSR) Trait. The PSR Trait, developed using the company’s Rapid Trait Development System® (RTDS), strengthens the sheath that contains the Canola (oilseed rape) seeds and, in so doing, reduces pod shatter yield losses.

Pod shatter refers to the pre-harvest release of oil seeds when the pod seam and connective tissue of the sheath that contains the Canola seeds breaks apart and releases the seeds. This occurs due to either a weakened pod seam or pod fracturing due to bad weather. Cibus’ PSR Trait reduces these yield losses due to pod shatter. PSR is called a Productivity Trait because it is part of a class of agricultural traits that address productivity and sustainability in farming by improving crop yields and lowering costs like diesel, fertilizer, and crop protection chemicals.

Greg Gocal, EVP and CSO at Cibus said, “It is a highly effective trait that has been developed using RTDS and has been validated in field trials over several years. We are preparing for the commercialization of PSR in the United States and Canada. We are expecting that our Pod Shatter Reduction Trait will be one of the first gene-edited traits launched in Europe subject to legislative changes in the UK and EU.”

Canola is a major global crop that is now planted on more than 50 million acres in North America, Europe, and Australia. It is second only to soybean as the most important annual crop source of vegetable oil in the world. Reducing pod shatter is a critically important trait for Canola farmers because pod shatter can result in yield losses of 10 per cent or more and increased expenses in farming practices during harvest. Cibus’ PSR Trait increases yields but also lowers the cost of farming by improving the flexibility for straight combining of canola and wheat, providing farmers the option to harvest wheat at the best possible time for the grain quality.

“Canola is a foundational crop for Cibus. Following PSR, we have a pipeline of additional Productivity Traits for Canola developed using RTDS. These include traits for Sclerotinia resistance and nitrogen use efficiency. Importantly, these are all traits that are critical to addressing farming sustainability as they would increase yields and lower the use of inputs like fuel, fungicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. Once developed, we believe that each of these traits will be important in many different crops,” said Rory Riggs, Chairman and CEO at Cibus.

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)