Despite the ongoing legal uncertainty over the future of new plant breeding innovation in Europe, US agricultural company Corteva Agriscience has signed its first major deal on genome editing tools with French seed producer Vilmorin & Cie.
The French company issued a press release on Monday (9 December) announcing the signature of an agreement on genome editing tools with Corteva Agriscience and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a biomedical and genomic research center.
The licensing deal will provide the French company with access to certain CRISPR-Cas9 patents covering genome editing tools for agricultural use.
“Vilmorin & Cie now has access to a wide range of genome editing tools, which will enable it to strengthen its ability to develop more efficient seed varieties in order to contribute to meeting global food challenges,” the company said.
The gene-editing deal is considered of high significance in light of the ongoing debate in Europe about the regulatory future of gene editing.
Read full, original article: Corteva signs first major gene editing deal with European company
