DuPont, Athenix Collaborate to Advance Insect Control in Corn, Soybeans
DuPont and Athenix have entered into a research collaboration to improve insect control in corn and soybeans. Under the agreement, DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred will use proprietary insect-resistance trait genes from Athenix to develop and commercialize next-generation corn and soybean seed products.
“The novel products developed through this partnership will build upon industry-leading insect control solutions from Pioneer,” said Bill Niebur, DuPont vice president, Crop Genetics Research and Development. “We look forward to partnering with Athenix to enhance our line of products with these new traits to increase productivity, profitability and sustainability for Pioneer customers.”
Athenix will focus on microbial screening, molecular biology and genomics to discover gene leads that protect corn and soybeans against destructive insect pests including corn rootworm, European corn borer, earworms and cutworms. Pioneer researchers will validate and further develop these gene leads through their proprietary trait enhancement tools, including gene shuffling. Accelerated trait integration processes will be utilized to incorporate these traits into industry-leading new products that will directly address the global demand for superior agricultural productivity.
Under the agreement, Pioneer will have exclusive ownership of novel insect control genes enhanced through its gene shuffling technology and the corn and soybean germplasm it develops using Athenix and Pioneer-enhanced genes.
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