(December 9, 2019)-Vilmorin & Cie has announced the signature of an agreement on genome editing tools with Corteva Agriscience and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge, United States.
This non-exclusive license agreement grants Vilmorin & Cie access to certain CRISPR-Cas9 patents covering genome editing tools for agricultural use.
The license agreement covers all Vilmorin & Cie's research work and programs as well as potential commercial applications. Vilmorin & Cie will be able to deploy this technology for both its Field Seeds and Vegetable Seeds activities.
CRISPR-Cas9 is a reference technology and is the most widely used genome editing tool today. It is also complementary to the CRISPR-Cpf1 technology, to which Vilmorin & Cie also has access, following the signature of an agreement with the Broad Institute at the beginning of fiscal year 2018-2019.
Through this agreement, Vilmorin & Cie confirms its willingness to collaborate to access the latest technologies and thus increase the efficiency of its research. Vilmorin & Cie now has access to a wide range of genome editing tools, which will enable it to strengthen its ability to develop more efficient seed varieties in order to contribute to meeting global food challenges.