Monheim, Germany and Ithaca, New York, USA
March 14, 2013
Soybean plants
Bayer CropScience and the research company Nature Source Genetics, based in Ithaca, New York, USA, have signed an agreement to expand their already fruitful cooperation. They have entered into a five-year collaboration involving the pre-breeding and enhancement of soybean germplasm. The goal is to create improved seed by making use of innovative technologies to identify and incorporate previously non detectable, naturally occurring genes. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
The partnership will combine the expertise of Bayer CropScience’s soybean breeders and geneticists with Nature Source Genetics’ technical know-how and the company’s bioanalytical platform to identify and utilize the full range of promising germplasm. The partnership also builds on a successful cotton partnership, which began in 2008.
"The collaboration between Bayer CropScience and Nature Source Genetics marks a significant expansion in the strategic scope of our soybean breeding program", said Mike Gilbert, Head of Global Breeding and Trait Development at Bayer CropScience. "With this partnership, we now have access to new and valuable sources of genetic diversity in soybeans, which we can incorporate into our already robust breeding program to further expand and improve the products we offer growers worldwide."
This agreement will provide Bayer CropScience researchers with the opportunity to identify high value genes in previously unused genetic material and incorporate these new genes into commercial germplasm.
"We are very pleased to be entering into this joint venture with Bayer CropScience for the genetic improvement of soy. Nature Source Genetics brings to this partnership unique expertise and proprietary algorithms developed within its bioanalytical platform encompassing diverse competencies from life and computational sciences," said Professor Steven D. Tanksley, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of Nature Source Genetics. "These competencies will significantly expedite the identification and incorporation of new and useful genetic variation into Bayer CropScience’s breeding material for the development of improved commercial varieties."
About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. This year the company looks back on 150 years of working to fulfill its mission "Bayer: Science For A Better Life". Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 8,383 million (2012) and is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 20,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries.
About Nature Source Genetics
Nature Source Genetics is a company based in Ithaca, New York co-founded in 2006 by Professor Steven D. Tanksley and Dr. Theresa M. Fulton from Cornell University with Dr. Vincent Pétiard, the former Head of Plant Sciences and Technology at Nestlé. Nature Source Genetics offers exclusive services on a crop per crop basis, and is currently working on different field crops, vegetables, and tropical crops with agro-seed and food companies to optimize the benefits of natural genetic diversity in target crops. Nature Source Genetics has also started to explore with animal breeding companies the opportunities of use of its computational genomics capabilities.
Neue Möglichkeiten bei der Züchtung und Entwicklung von Sojasorten: Bayer CropScience baut Partnerschaft in Forschung und Entwicklung mit Nature Source Genetics aus
Bayer CropScience und das Forschungsunternehmen Nature Source Genetics mit Sitz in Ithaca im US-Bundesstaat New York bauen ihre erfolgreiche Partnerschaft weiter aus. Ein Fünfjahresvertrag sieht eine Zusammenarbeit in der Vorzüchtung und Verbesserung von Zuchtmaterial für Soja vor. Ziel ist es, bisher nicht auffindbare, natürliche Gene mithilfe innovativer Technologien zu identifizieren und zu nutzen, um Saatgut zu verbessern. Finanzielle Einzelheiten wurden nicht bekannt gegeben.
Die Partnerschaft vereint die fachliche Kompetenz der Sojazüchter und Genetiker von Bayer CropScience mit dem technischen Know-how und der bioanalytischen Plattform von Nature Source Genetics. Gemeinsam wollen die Unternehmen die gesamte Bandbreite vielversprechenden Zuchtmaterials identifizieren und nutzbar machen. Die neue Partnerschaft baut auf einer bereits seit 2008 bestehenden, erfolgreichen Partnerschaft in der Baumwollzüchtung auf.
"Die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Bayer CropScience und Nature Source Genetics weitet die strategische Bandbreite unseres Sojazuchtprogramms erheblich aus", sagte Mike Gilbert, Leiter Global Breeding & Development bei Bayer CropScience. "Dank dieser Partnerschaft haben wir jetzt Zugang zu einer neuen Vielfalt an Zuchtmaterial für Soja. Indem wir dies in unser umfassendes Züchtungsprogramm integrieren, können wir den Landwirten weltweit bessere Produkte bieten", so Mike Gilbert weiter.
Der neue Vertrag bietet den Forschern von Bayer CropScience die Möglichkeit, wertvolle Gene in bisher ungenutztem Erbgut zu identifizieren und für kommerzielles Zuchtmaterial zu nutzen.
"Wir freuen uns sehr über die Zusammenarbeit mit Bayer CropScience zur Entwicklung von Soja. Nature Source Genetics bringt einzigartige Kenntnisse und selbst entwickelte Algorithmen in diese Partnerschaft ein. Unsere bioanalytische Plattform vereint Kompetenzen auf dem Gebiet der Life Sciences und der rechnergestützten Naturwissenschaften", erklärte Professor Steven D. Tanksley, CEO und Chief Scientific Officer von Nature Source Genetics. "Sie werden die Identifizierung und die Nutzung neuer, wertvoller genetischer Variationen für das Zuchtmaterial von Bayer CropScience und damit die Entwicklung besserer Sorten deutlich voranbringen."
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