ZFP Technology Accelerates Precision Gene Control, Trait Stacking in Commercial Crop Species

INDIANAPOLIS and RICHMOND, Calif., June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DowAgroSciences LLC and Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO) announced todaythe successful completion of research milestones as part of their jointResearch and Commercial License Agreement. These milestones represent thesuccessful application of Sangamo's zinc finger DNA-binding protein (ZFP)technology to the generation of specific traits in two major crop species --maize and canola.

'Our collaboration with Sangamo continues to be spectacularly successful,'said Jerome Peribere, president and chief executive officer of DowAgroSciences. 'These milestones build on our earlier achievements anddemonstrate the versatility and broad applicability of the ZFP platform toboth regulate and modify genes in commercially important plant species. Wehave now proven that the ZFP technology can accelerate the process of 'traitstacking', which will result in a shorter path to commercialization of cropscontaining new traits. We believe ZFP technology has the power to trulytransform our industry.'

Peribere points out that the technology also allows control of theexpression of existing genes. Many genes have already been identified in cropspecies that control the development of major traits relevant to agriculturesuch as seed quality, yield, and resistance to environmental stresses. Yetuntil now there has not been a technology that allows precise control of theactivity of these genes. ZFP technology provides such an approach and itsunique advantage, in addition to its efficiency, is its demonstratedflexibility. The technology can be used to regulate or modify any gene in anyspecies.

Scientists at Dow AgroSciences, in collaboration with Sangamo scientists,used ZFP Nucleases (ZFNs(TM)) to place a herbicide resistance gene into aspecified location of the maize genome in a rapid, single-step process. Theprecise insertion of the gene into the targeted location significantlyadvances the ability to stack a trait with other commercially valuable traitsand accelerate the breeding process to deliver a launch-ready variety. Thisachievement demonstrates the potential value and versatility of targetedtransgene insertion into crops.

Sangamo's ZFP transcription factor (ZFP TF(TM)) technology was used toachieve the second milestone, the control of the expression of a native genein canola, a major food oil crop species in North America and in Asia.