November 6, 2007

Monsanto applies prize-winning technology on crop protection

Monsanto Co. working with Devgen NV, a Belgium biotech firm, have developed a new way to protect crops from insects using a Nobel prize-winning technology, Monsanto announced Sunday (November 6, 2007).

The companies say they have found a new way to use technology called RNA interference for crop protection. Their findings were published in the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology.

The technology is very precise and it could be used to target a very specific protein in the insect, specific to that species of insect that's harmful to the plant, said Sara Duncan, a spokeswoman for Monsanto.

Monsanto hopes to use the technology in a strain of corn designed to repel rootworms, which would mean higher yield for farmers, he added.

This technology for crops is a spinoff of a discovery by two American researchers, Andrew Fire and Craig Mello, who won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Their findings were published in 1998.

Fire and Mello discovered RNA interference, in which they found ribonucleic acid could "silence" specific genes from producing unwanted proteins. The technology has so far been used in the treatment of macular degeneration in humans.

Monsanto and Devgen has found the first application of that technology for agriculture, he said.

Monsanto has been collaborating with Devgen since 2004.