Mendel Biotechnology
Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. says it aims "to produce plants enhanced for food, feed, fiber, energy and aesthetic benefit without large increases in production acreage" and says it is
- dedicated to being a premier biotechnology company serving large agricultural companies with new genetic and chemical solutions and to becoming the leading seed company serving the bioenergy industry.[1]
Its interests include developing "energy grasses" for biomass and biofuels.[2]
Contents
Patents owned
As at July 2010, Mendel had been granted over 20 biotechnology and GM patents, as listed on its website.[3]
Collaborators: Monsanto, Bayer, BP
Mendel's 2009 Annual Report names 2009 as a "watershed year", demonstrated by two collaborative partnerships: one with Monsanto and the other with Bayer CropScience.[4] On its website, Mendel also names BP as a strategic partner.[5]
Monsanto
On its website, the company names Monsanto as "Mendel's most important customer and collaborator for our technology business".[6]
In its 2008 Annual Report it lists two lines of business that were central to its growth in that year:
- a collaborative project with Monsanto on soybean yield, "the basis of which is a Mendel technology"[7]
- the establishment of "the first-ever field trials of genetically diverse Miscanthus varieties for biomass production in the United States"[8]
Mendel's deal with Monsanto involves Monsanto's "initial deployment of our [Mendel's] platforms" for its "improved yield soybean".[9]
Bayer
Mendel entered into collaboration with Bayer in early 2008.[10] The deal involves "developing chemical products which make crops more resistant to biotic and abiotic stress factors, which in turn will stabilize yields and improve crop productivity".[11]
Mendel says its program with Bayer "is a continuation of previous joint activities which focused on the elucidation of stress response mode of actions of Bayer agrochemicals like Imidacloprid and Trifloxystrobin".[12] Imidacloprid is one of a class of insecticides called neonicotinoids which have been banned in Germany due to a suspected role in the mass worldwide die-off of bees.[13] Mendel says, "The program aims to discover and develop further chemical products that regulate plant stress tolerance, leveraging Mendel's knowledge of plant transcription factor pathways with the expertise of Bayer CropScience as a leader in agricultural chemistry."[14] It is unclear from this whether Mendel is helping Bayer dig itself deeper into the neonicotinoid hole or trying to come up with less risky alternatives.
BP
According to Mendel's website:
- Mendel and BP entered into a strategic long-term collaboration in May 2007 for the development of a BioEnergy Seeds and Feedstocks business. The focus of the collaboration is the development and commercialization of seed products, both conventional and biotech varieties, for dedicated energy crops such as Miscanthus and switchgrass. This business is intended to serve the emerging 2nd generation biofuels industry both in the United States and abroad.
- Under the terms of the current agreement, Mendel owns the technology developed through the collaboration, Mendel owns and operates the seed and feedstock business, and BP receives royalties on seed sales.[15]
Affiliations
As at June 2010, Mendel's "strategic partners" are:[16]
- Monsanto. Mendel calls Monsanto its "most important customer and collaborator for our technology business".[17]
- BP
- Bayer CropScience
- Selecta Klemm: a joint venture formed in 2006 — Ornamental Biosciences, Inc. — for the commercialization of ornamental crop varieties differentiated in the marketplace for improved growth and survival under a range of stresses.
- SweTree Technologies: a collaboration for the development of improved varieties of plantation forest tree species.
- ArborGen: a collaboration to improve stress tolerance in selected tree species.
People
Scientific advisory board
As of June 2010:[18]
- Dr. Elliot Meyerowitz
- Dr. Jonathan Jones
- Dr. Brian Staskawicz
- Dr. Fred Ausubel
- Dr. Ulrich Schirmer
- Dr. Andrew Millar
- Dr. Joseph R. Ecker
- Dr. Andrew H. Paterson
- Dr. Charles Wyman
Funding
Contact
As at July 2010:[19]
- Address: Mendel Biotechnology, 3935 Point Eden Way, Hayward, CA 94545
- Phone 510-264-0280
- Fax 510-264-0254
- http://www.Mendelbio.com
Resources
Notes
- ↑ Our mission, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 9 Jun 2010
- ↑ Mendel Biotechnology Annual Report 2008, p 4, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Issued patents, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 8 July 2010
- ↑ Dear Shareholder, Mendel Biotechnology Annual Report 2009, p. 4, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Strategic partners, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Strategic partners, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Mendel Biotechnology Annual Report 2008, p 4, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Mendel Biotechnology Annual Report 2008, p 4, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Dear Shareholder, Mendel Biotechnology Annual Report 2009, p. 4, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Strategic partners, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Dear Shareholder, Mendel Biotechnology Annual Report 2009, p. 4, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Strategic partners, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Alison Benjamin, Pesticides: Germany bans chemicals linked to honeybee devastation, Guardian, 23 May 2008, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Strategic partners, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Strategic partners, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 8 Jul 2010
- ↑ Strategic Partners, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 9 Jun 2010
- ↑ Strategic Partners, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 9 Jun 2010
- ↑ Scientific Advisory Board, Mendel Biotechnology website, acc 9 Jun 2010
- ↑ Mendel Biotechnology Annual Report 2009, acc 8 Jul 2010
