Cellectis and Bayer CropScience enter into a collaboration to use Meganuclease technology in plants

03-Jul-2006

Cellectis SA and Bayer BioScience NV announced that they have signed an agreement under which Bayer CropScience will have access to Cellectis' proprietary custom-made Meganuclease technology for use in plant research and to develop products for use in agriculture. Financial terms and conditions were not disclosed.

Meganucleases are a proprietary genome engineering technology developed by Cellectis that allows for highly precise 'editing' to genetic sequences. They consist of sequence-specific endonucleases with large (>18-24 bp) recognition sites. This high specificity ensures Meganucleases can bind and cut at a single point in a chosen genome without the imprecision associated with most other forms of gene modification. Custom-made Meganucleases can be designed for very specific gene targeting applications. Bayer CropScience intends to use custom-made Meganucleases in plant research and the development of new products.

"We are delighted to have signed this agreement with Bayer CropScience. We feel it validates Cellectis' approach of using custom-made Meganucleases for gene targeting in plants" commented Isabelle Pelletier-Bressac, Vice President Business Development of Cellectis, "This agreement once more demonstrates the strong industrial potential of the Meganuclease technology in agriculture".

"Bayer CropScience strongly believes that the ability to make precise, surgical changes in crop genomes has the potential to be the next break-through enablement for increasing crop yield and creating new plant-based products for our customers. The Cellectis technology can enable us to make such surgical changes in an efficient way." said Dr. Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, Head of Research for BioScience.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/56020/cellectis-and-bayer-cropscience-enter-into-a-collaboration-to-use-meganuclease-technology-in-plants.html