Bayer CropScience AG and Precision BioSciences Inc. have successfully inserted a gene into a specific desired location in cotton using Precision’s Directed Nuclease Editor (DNE) technology, according to a press release.
Los científicos de Bayer CropScience utilizaron una enzima conocida como meganucleasa diseñada por DNE producida por Precision para apuntar a la inserción de un transgén cerca de un transgén existente en una línea vegetal. Este enfoque podría reducir el tiempo necesario para producir una nueva característica de la planta y elimina las complejidades asociadas con los métodos actuales de desarrollo de productos, según las empresas. Este es el primer informe conocido de una inserción en un sitio específico que utiliza una nucleasa modificada en algodón.
Precision’s DNE technology, which is based on the production of DNA-cleaving enzymes called engineered meganucleases, enables crop researchers at Bayer to delete, insert, or otherwise modify genes at user-defined sites within plant genomes. By facilitating the direct introduction of value adding traits into plant species, the technology can streamline product development and reduce the time it takes to get a product ready for the market, according to the release.
“This technology milestone is a world first and delivers enormous capacity for Bayer to precisely target and more efficiently deliver significant benefits in key crops to farmers globally. And this is just the beginning,” said Dr Johan Botterman, head of bioScience product research at Bayer CropScience.
Precision BioSciences and Bayer CropScience are developing additional DNE-engineered meganucleases for use across the company’s crop platforms.