January 19, 2009
Monsanto advances higher yield soy trait development with Mendel
Monsanto announced earlier this week that it has advanced its higher yielding soy trait, sourced from Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. into its Phase III development stage.
The technology was identified and developed through a research programme funded by Monsanto, designed to leverage Mendel's expertise in regulatory pathways and network biology.
The two companies have worked together for over a decade on the development of biotechnology-based traits for Monsanto's row crops seed business, and the companies continue to collaborate to develop high-value traits.
Mendel president and chief executive officer, Neal Gutterson said they are delighted that one of the traits has reached this advanced stage in Monsanto's commercial pipeline, which underscores the commercial viability and success of this project, and validates their long term R&D strategy focused on understanding gene networks that control important plant traits.
Monsanto vice president of biotechnology, Steve Padgette said higher yielding soy, which have demonstrated 6 percent to 7 percent yield increase across three seasons of testing in 56 field environments, are expected to be an important part of our stacked soy trait portfolio of the future.
