San Diego, California, USA
October 27, 2011
Cibus Global, a pioneering plant trait development firm, marks a major milestone in November when the company celebrates its ten-year anniversary. Founded in November 2001 by a team of visionary scientists and agricultural biotechnology experts, the company has expanded significantly since establishing their headquarters and research facility in San Diego, opening offices in Minnesota in 2007 and the Netherlands in 2009. The core launch team now holds executive leadership positions, and Cibus employs more than 80 people.
The breath of Cibus’ technology is wide-ranging for its trait development possibilities. In the past 10 years, Cibus has forged eight partnerships working in eight different crops developing 12 unique and differentiated value added plant traits using its Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS™) technology with leading agricultural companies including:
- Makhteshim-Agan to develop traits in five major crops with a European focus
- BASF to develop and commercialize non-GM herbicide tolerance in oilseed rape and canola
- The Flax Council of Canada to develop non-transgenic traits
- NEU Seed to develop potato crop protection and performance enhancement traits for North America
- BrettYoung to bring new canola traits to the North American market
- Rotam to provide crop protection herbicides for RTDS developed canola in North America
The company is also poised to make major strides in the seed trait industry. After years of research, Cibus will release their first commercially available trait to the market in 2012.
“Since its founding, Cibus has aimed to develop advantageous crop traits with far-reaching benefits for agriculture, alternative energy and product development,” remarked Dr. Keith Walker, President of Cibus Global and one of its founders. “We have made extraordinary progress in a short time in commercializing our breakthrough science and forming first class partnerships around the world. We anticipate even greater things in the years ahead as products containing our highly innovative technology come to market, improving quality and yields for farmers and offering greater choice and lower prices to consumers.”
Some of the exciting projects in the Cibus pipeline include:
- Potatoes resistant to blackspot bruising, which costs the U.S. potato industry $170 million annually
- Improved crop protection traits that will benefit farmers and the environment alike
“The RTDS™ technology is uniquely versatile, and presents us with an untold number of potential agricultural and industrial applications,” said Peter Beetham, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research, Cibus and another one of its founders. “Cibus has continued to build a cohesive team over the ten years with diligent and committed professionals in all areas of our business. Throughout these years the research team has greatly benefitted by the excellent scientific leadership of Dr’s Greg Gocal, Christian Schöpke and Mark Knuth, all of whom have been with the company from its inception.”
Cibus produces environmentally-friendly crop traits through the application of its proprietary and revolutionary RTDS™ technology. RTDS™ enables Cibus to unlock new traits by harnessing an organism’s own DNA-repair machinery, nurturing nature in line with the processes of traditional plant breeding.
Cibus has shown remarkable persistence and dedication in its quest to help ensure that the world continues to have ways of feeding its growing population safely and sustainably in the decades ahead.
Cibus Global develops advantageous crop traits with far-reaching implications in agriculture, alternative energy and product development. Through its proprietary Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS™), Cibus creates traits in a directed way with more precision than traditional breeding techniques and without the introduction of foreign genetic material. RTDS™ has proven itself in the laboratory with several different applications, as well as in initial field trials of Cibus’ first commercial crop, canola. Cibus’ products will be brought to market through strategic, crop-specific partnerships.
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