Mendel Biotechnology, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, announced today that it was granted a Phase IIB Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation. The SBIR phase IIB grant provides two years of supplemental funding for a Phase II grant awarded to Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. for development of crops with improved disease resistance, based on matching funds from a third party investor. Protection of crops against fungal pathogens is one of the most significant unmet needs in agriculture. Over $600 million is spent each year in the United States to protect plants against fungal pathogens. Nonetheless, annual losses to fungal pathogens are approximately $900 million in North America for soybean alone, with total crop losses of approximately $5 billion. The grant will fund research that aims to enhance a plant's natural ability to resist pathogen infection, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for fungicides.

T. Lynne Reuber, Ph.D., Director of Research, will serve as the Principal Investigator of the grant.

Founded in 1997, Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. was a pioneer in the application of functional genomics to the study of plant genes. Mendel's initial mission, now largely complete, was to discover and characterize the function of plant transcription factor genes as the basis for creating novel products for agriculture. Mendel is now commercializing transcription factor technologies in the agricultural biotechnology and chemistry sectors. Products incorporating Mendel technologies are being developed for large acreage row crops, and for the forestry, ornamental and horticultural markets. Mendel has partnerships with leading agriculture companies, including Monsanto, the world's leader in commercializing transgenic crops.