Feb. 12, 2001-- PlantGenix, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based biotechnology company, today announced the receipt of a United States patent covering new genetic technologies which facilitate the use of plants to produce pharmaceutical and chemical compounds, detoxify contaminated soils, enhance the nutritional value and health benefits of food, and increase the resistance of plants to herbicides.
Patent number 6,166,290 was issued to the University of Pennsylvania, naming Penn's scientists Philip Rea, Yu-Ping Lu and Ze-Sheng Li as inventors. The technology is licensed exclusively to PlantGenix. It includes 29 claims covering the composition and use of novel cell transporters, known as GS-X pumps, which belong to one of the largest and most widespread protein families found in plant, animal and microbial cells.
The patent specifies genes that encode a unique class of transporter proteins that can pump organic compounds and heavy metals into the vacuoles of plant cells. This discovery represents a significant step forward in the development of plants for chemical storage and novel pharmaceutical and food production.
``This patent is an important milestone in our effort to commercialize some very promising technology invented at the University of Pennsylvania. The claims provide intellectual property protection for the cost-effective production of high-value compounds in plants,'' said Robert J. Cibulsky, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of PlantGenix. ``PlantGenix has now licensed seven U.S. and foreign patents and is emerging as a leader in the development of clean, efficient and safe applications of plant biotechnology.''
Dr. Philip Rea, professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvania's Plant Science Institute, science advisor to PlantGenix and an inventor of the technology claimed in the patent, stated:
``Although plant cells have tremendous production capacity, this capacity is often limited by the end-products of biochemical reactions. We have demonstrated that certain GS-X pumps can overcome this production limitation and facilitate the accumulation of specific types of molecules in plant cell vacuoles. This discovery opens the door to new avenues of cell transporter research that may greatly expand our ability to use plants for storage and production of nutritional, pharmaceutical and chemical compounds.
``We have already shown in the lab how this technology can be used to remove organic chemicals and heavy metals from contaminated material. We are also studying exactly which molecules are transported by particular GS-X pumps, and optimizing recovery methods so we can develop plants that will produce and store valuable materials simply and cost-effectively.''
Louis Berneman, managing director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Transfer, stated: ``PlantGenix is one of the most promising new companies in the field of plant science. We are extremely pleased with the collaboration between the company and Dr. Rea and gratified by the scope of this patent, which forms a very solid foundation for their work in cell transport technology and bodes well for its future commercial success.''
PlantGenix is a biotechnology company that applies genomics and functional proteomics discovery technologies to develop new uses for plants. The company is applying its expertise in membrane transport technology to develop plants that produce, store and retrieve valuable chemicals and other compounds. Through its ethylene modulation technology, PlantGenix is developing methods to control crop quality and the speed at which crops age and ripen.
The University of Pennsylvania Plant Science Institute is based in the University's Department of Biology. Its mission is to understand the molecular, genetic and biochemical basis of plant function. The Institute is active in many key areas of fundamental plant research including signal and energy transduction, plant growth and development and genomics, as well as cellular detoxification and membrane transport.
Contact:
PlantGenix, Inc.
Robert Cibulsky, Ph.D., 610/687-9452
bob@plantgenix.com |
