Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Kosan BioSciences -- KOSN -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: keokalani'nui who wrote (20)	7/19/2001 11:43:21 AM
From: keokalani'nui	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 933

Kosan Announces Issuance of a U.S. Patent for the Production of Polyketides in Plants HAYWARD, Calif--(BW HealthWire)--July 19, 2001--Kosan Biosciences Incorporated (Nasdaq:KOSN - news) announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 6,262,340 to Kosan. This patent claims methods for producing polyketides in plants to protect the plants against disease and infestation. The patent includes claims for methods of producing 6-methylsalicylic acid (6-MSA), a congener of a natural signal that initiates a powerful defense response in plants. ``Because many polyketides were naturally evolved by microorganisms to ward off predators, it makes good sense to use them for the same purpose in plants. In addition, plants could someday serve as economical production factories for this valuable class of pharmaceuticals,'' said Brian Metcalf, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Kosan. ``The issuance of this patent provides Kosan important intellectual property in the rapidly emerging and potentially very large field of crop protection via bioengineering,'' said Kevin Kaster, Kosan's Vice President of Intellectual Property. ``Scientists at Pioneer-Hybrid International have recently shown that the polyketide 6-MSA increases resistance to viral infection in plants bioengineered to express that polyketide,'' he noted.