Yield10 Bioscience announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent covering the use of C3003 to improve seed yield in crops.
The U.S. patent 10,337,024 is entitled, “Plants with enhanced photosynthesis and methods of manufacture thereof.” Yield10 is the exclusive licensee of this intellectual property from The University of Massachusetts.
The C3003 yield trait is based on a transporter gene derived from algae that can be used to increase seed yield in plants. C3003 is believed to play a role in carbon capture and directing carbon to seed. Yield10 is testing C3003 as a technology to increase seed yield in major crops including Camelina, canola, soybean and corn. Under research licenses with Yield10, two major seed companies are progressing evaluation of C3003 in soybean and forage sorghum, respectively. The Company designated C3003 to be in the commercial development phase in canola based on 2018 field test results where C3003 produced an 11% increase in seed yield.
“This U.S. patent is the first to issue on C3003, representing an important milestone for Yield10,” says Oliver Peoples, president and Chief Executive Officer of Yield10. “While we look forward to additional patents being granted on our inventions in 2019 and beyond, we continue to protect our discoveries with new filings. In 2019 alone, we have filed new patent applications related to our GRAIN technology platform as well as the use of our Camelina platform to cost-effectively produce PHA/PHB biomaterials. The growth of our intellectual property portfolio is a direct reflection of the innovative capabilities of our team.”
