Biotech firm Calyxt strikes deal with non-GMO food processor to release gene-edited soybeans

Minnesota-based gene-editing firm Calyxt has found a market for its new, healthier type of soybean, announcing a deal with a soybean processor in Iowa.

The agreement …. with American Natural Processors, a non-GMO processor of oils, flours and meals based in Cherokee, Iowa, means that products made with Calyxt’s high-tech soybeans could start hitting the market this year or by early 2019.

“With this collaboration, Calyxt has taken an important step toward the commercialization of our high-oleic soybean oil by contracting with a processor with a strong track record of food quality and safety, and that is committed to the non-GMO and organic industries,” Manoj Sahoo, Calyxt’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement.

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The company’s technology — known as TALEN — uses “molecular scissors” to create desirable traits and does not add foreign DNA during the process, so its plants are not considered to be genetically modified organisms (GMO).

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The company says it can use the innovation to remove the genes that are responsible for trans fats in soybean oil. The oil from this new variety of soybeans is designed to eliminate the need for hydrogenation, a process that improves heat stability and shelf life of conventional soybean oil.

Read full, original article: Roseville gene-editing firm Calyxt announces deal with soybean processor