The Buzz
Dow AgroSciences, Iowa State U. in Algae Research Agreement
April 18, 2010
AlgaeIndustryMagazine.com
Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, and Iowa State University have entered into a research agreement to study how Dow’s EXZACT(TM) Precision Technology can help improve the development of renewable bioproducts in microalgae.
Dow AgroSciences’ EXZACT(TM) Precision Technology is a toolkit for targeted genome modification. It is used to add, edit, or delete genes at targeted locations in plant genomes, and for precise engineering of multi-gene stacks, editing native gene sequences and targeted gene disruption in crops. The new research agreement will extend those functionalities into algal systems.
As part of the agreement, researchers at Iowa State will generate data demonstrating the utility of Dow’s genome modification toolkit in the microalgae Chlamydomonas, a model system for the green technologies that will produce the carbohydrates, lipids or hydrocarbons used in high-energy, renewable bioproducts. Dow AgroSciences is providing its technology as well as access to intellectual property and scientific expertise.
Martin Spalding, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology at Iowa State, and Dow AgroSciences’ Scientific Leader Vipula Shukla, Ph.D are leading the effort.
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