An agreement signed with Corteva Agriscience and an American research center gives the Bejo seed company access to the intellectual property of Crispr-Cas9 for growing vegetables.
The agreement was signed today in the United States. This is a non-exclusive research and commercial license agreement between Bejo, Corteva Agriscience, and the Broad Institute, a US research center in biomedicine and genomics.
In a press release, Bejo reports that regarding European legislation, the seed company will only use Crispr-Cas9 technology for research purposes at this time. Bejo Research Director Bert Schrijver argues that gene editing ultimately provides the seed company the opportunity to accelerate its vegetable breeding programs.
Understanding genetics
These technologies increase our understanding of genetics and provide tools for developing new traits such as abiotic stress tolerance and disease resistance. This helps farmers grow their crops in a sustainable way and meet the growing demand worldwide for healthy vegetable production.
The group is committed to unlocking innovation and collaborating with the scientific community to develop solutions for farmers, said Sam Eathington, Corteva’s Chief Technology Officer. The agreement with Bejo is a case in point. Bejo’s investment in gene editing reflects confidence that the European policy climate will adapt in favor of Crispr-Cas, among other things. Hence, farmers and consumers can benefit from this innovation.
Etchington is convinced that technology like Crispr-Cas can make crops more nutritious, resilient and productive. “We are proud to be able to help Bejo explore new applications using this powerful tool in vegetable crops.”
