Cibus’ White Mold (Sclerotinia) Resistance Trait Program Confirms Important Milestone for Next Generation Gene Edits in Canola
Cibus has achieved a major milestone by successfully editing Canola with a third mode of action to resist White Mold (Sclerotinia). This advancement is expected to enhance disease resistance in Canola and potentially other crops like Soybean and various produce. The edited Canola plants will undergo controlled environment testing later this year. Cibus aims to improve crop yields and reduce fungicide use, thereby lowering input costs. This development underscores the company's capability in accelerating the creation of complex gene-edited traits.
- Cibus successfully edited Canola with a third mode of action for White Mold resistance.
- The edited Canola plants will undergo controlled environment testing this year.
- If successful, the new traits may be applied to other crops, enhancing productivity.
- Potential to reduce fungicide use, lowering input costs.
- Advances validate Cibus' technology in accelerating complex trait development.
- Third mode of action expected to offer durable resistance to White Mold in Canola.
- Potential application across multiple crops including Soybean, potatoes, legumes, and various produce.
- Success of the new trait is still pending disease resistance testing results.
- No immediate impact on revenue until successful application in crops.
- Potential risks associated with changing weather patterns affecting pathogen intensity.
Insights
White Mold (Sclerotinia) resistance in Canola is a significant advancement in agricultural biotechnology, given the persistent problem this disease poses to crop yields. The successful implementation of a third mode of action in gene editing indicates a promising stride towards durable resistance. This development not only highlights Cibus' scientific prowess but also showcases the potential for broader application across various crops such as Soybean, Potatoes and Legumes, which are also susceptible to White Mold.
Moreover, the ability to introduce new traits swiftly underscores the value of gene editing over traditional breeding methods. Traditional breeding often takes years to achieve similar results, whereas Cibus' technique accelerates this process, thereby providing a faster response to evolving plant pathogens. This efficiency could translate to quicker market adaptations and more resilient crop varieties.
Understanding the impacts of climate change, which can exacerbate plant diseases, this technology offers a significant advantage. By reducing dependency on fungicides, there are also environmental benefits, such as lower chemical runoff and a smaller carbon footprint, which align with sustainable agricultural practices.
Investors should note the potential for these traits to be licensed to seed companies, which can result in increased royalties for Cibus, thus enhancing their revenue streams. Success in controlled environment trials will be pivotal to realize these financial benefits.
The announcement carries significant implications for Cibus' financial outlook. The development of a third mode of action for White Mold resistance in Canola suggests a robust pipeline that could translate into
Investors should consider the cost-saving potential for farmers who will benefit from reduced fungicide usage. This cost efficiency could make Cibus' seeds more attractive, potentially increasing their market share. Additionally, the speed and efficiency of Cibus' gene-editing technology can lead to faster commercialization of new traits, allowing the company to stay ahead of competitors and respond to market demands more swiftly.
However, it's essential to remain cautious until the trials in controlled environments are completed successfully. Any setbacks could delay commercialization and affect revenue projections. Furthermore, while the potential for expanding these traits to other crops like Soybean is promising, it remains to be seen how smoothly this transition will occur.
In summary, this development is a positive indicator of Cibus' innovation capability and market positioning, with a promising outlook for revenue growth through enhanced product offerings and cost efficiencies.
Cibus has successfully made the edits in Canola associated with the Company’s 3rd mode of action for its White Mold (Sclerotinia) trait
These next generation edits are now confirmed in plants and will be evaluated later this year in a controlled environment
SAN DIEGO, May 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cibus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBUS) (“Cibus” or the “Company), a leading agricultural technology company that develops and licenses plant traits to seed companies for royalties, today announced it has successfully made the next generation edits in Canola associated with a new third mode of action for White Mold (Sclerotinia) resistance. These new edited plants will now undergo disease resistance testing in a controlled environment. If successful, Cibus expects this third mode of action trait, along with Cibus’ other two modes of action traits, to provide durable resistance for White Mold in Canola. Today’s announcement represents a major development in the Company’s progress toward providing durable White Mold resistance.
Cibus is a leader in the development of complex gene edited traits in plants, including disease resistance traits which are complex and require multiple modes of action against diseases like White Mold (Sclerotinia). Because plant pathogens can evolve rapidly, it is important to enable different modes of action to provide durable resistance. It is expected that when developed, these disease resistance traits can be applied to multiple crops. For example, while White Mold is the most adverse disease in Canola for reducing yields, it is also the second most impactful disease in Soybean and can also affect a wide range of produce including potatoes and legumes, as well as fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts.
The intensity of plant pathogens such as White Mold (Sclerotinia) can also be enhanced by changing weather patterns with increased importance in the face of climate change. We expect that these new disease traits for major crops like canola will enhance productivity through reducing crop loss due to disease, while also reducing the use of fungicides, thereby lowering input costs
Greg Gocal, PhD, Co-Founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Cibus, commented, “We are excited by the speed with which we have been able to edit plants successfully once we have identified the genes associated with a specific trait, and then to develop new traits. It is an important signal and validation of how Cibus’ technologies can accelerate the time to develop complex traits. We believe our third mode of action will be a key component of our White Mold disease resistance strategy. In addition, once we have completed our anticipated Soybean platform, we expect to begin editing our White Mold trait into Soybean. We continue to believe that our approach to complex trait development is additive to and faster than conventional breeding.”
Peter Beetham, Co-Founder, President and COO of Cibus, added, “We are very encouraged by this third mode of action, and it represents another great step for our progress in developing plant disease traits. We have successfully identified multiple modes of action to generate resistance to White Mold in Canola specifically, and fungal disease in general. These results are consistent with our work in disease traits showing that complex traits comprising multiple modes of action are possible leading to expected durable resistance to fungal disease.”
About Sclerotinia
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a fungal pathogen, which causes significant disease (stem rot) in oilseed crops. It affects 14
About the Cibus Trait Machine™ process and Rapid Trait Development System™
A key element of Cibus' technology breakthrough is its high-throughput breeding process (referred to as the "Trait Machine™" process). The Trait Machine process is a crop specific application of Cibus' patented Rapid Trait Development System™ (RTDS®). The proprietary technologies in RTDS integrate crop specific cell biology platforms with a series of gene editing technologies to enable a system of end-to-end crop specific precision breeding. It is the core technology platform for Cibus' Trait Machine process: the first standardized end-to-end semi-automated crop specific gene editing system that directly edits a seed company's elite germplasm. Each Trait Machine process requires a crop specific cell biology platform that enables Cibus to edit a single cell from a customer's elite germplasm and grow that edited cell into a plant with the Cibus edits. Cibus has a Trait Machine process developed for canola and rice and has already begun transferring their elite germplasm with Cibus edits back to customers.
The traits from Cibus' RTDS-based high-throughput breeding system are indistinguishable from traits developed using conventional breeding or from nature. RTDS does not integrate any foreign DNA or transgenes. Under the European Commission's current proposals, it is expected that products from Cibus' RTDS gene editing platform such as its Pod Shatter Reduction trait and Sclerotinia resistance traits for Canola and Winter Oilseed Rape would be considered 'Conventional-like'.
Cibus believes that RTDS and the Trait Machine process represent the technological breakthrough in plant breeding that is the ultimate promise of plant gene editing: "high- throughput gene editing systems operating as an extension of seed company breeding programs." In 2024, the Trait Machine process was cited by Fast Company Magazine as one of the most innovative products in 2024.
Because the Trait Machine process is intended to be integrated into seed companies' breeding operations, the customer relationship between Cibus and seed companies with which it engages is a collaborative relationship in which seed companies transfer elite germplasm to have a specific validated trait placed in the seed company's elite germplasm and expectation of delivery back to the seed company of their elite germplasm with the Cibus edit toward commercial development. Accordingly, Cibus refers to seed company "customers" in its disclosure once such a customer relationship has been initiated.
About Cibus
Cibus is a leader in gene edited productivity traits that address critical productivity and sustainability challenges for farmers such as diseases and pests which the United Nations estimates cost the global economy approximately
CIBUS CONTACTS:
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Karen Troeber
ktroeber@cibus.com
858-450-2636
MEDIA RELATIONS
media@cibus.com
FAQ
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