Evogene announces positive results of research with Monsanto on corn and soybeans

In Israel, Evogene announced positive results from the testing of a set of the company’s discovered genes in corn and soybeans conducted this past season by its key collaborator, Monsanto. These are the first results for genes discovered and tested pursuant to a ‘Trait-First’ methodology implemented in the frame of the parties’ on-going, multi-year collaboration which focuses on yield enhancement and abiotic stress resistance.

The new methodology, which leverages and utilizes knowledge unlocked through the collaboration, has enabled the two companies to identify and prioritize a series of key enabling traits that are expected to improve plants’ overall performance leading to yield improvement, as well as the trait attributes required for achieving these key traits.  The methodology implementation incorporates the synergistic application of Evogene’s ‘big data’ integration, analysis and prediction capabilities, including gene identification and optimization for specific trait attributes and gene stacking for achieving the key enabling traits, together with Monsanto’s industry leading development, validation and field trial network for testing both trait attributes and the key traits.