Corteva's Proprietary Gene Editing Tool Precisely Co-locates Traits in Corn's Genome

Corteva Agriscience has published its research confirming the natural movement of disease resistance genes within a corn plant's genome. The results reveal that gene editing tools such as CRISPR can mimic this naturally occurring process, which could unlock the ability to relocate multiple disease resistance genes, speed up plant breeding progress, and deliver enhanced high-performing products to farmers.

Corteva's proprietary gene editing technology is set to address several North American corn diseases. Using CRISPR, the company can now precisely co-locate disease resistance traits that already exist within the corn genome. In its recent peer-reviewed paper in Molecular Plant Pathology, Corteva revealed that disease resistance genes move naturally to help plants fight pathogens, but do so very slowly.

“A plant deals with a wide variety of pathogens, prompting its genes to naturally move around in the genome to resist disease and increase survivability,” said Wendy Srnic, Corteva's Vice President for Biotechnology. She added that this natural gene mobility occurs too slowly to effectively address the rapid growth of disease and climate-related pressures facing farmers around the globe and their research has enabled them to apply new breeding techniques to deliver seed that can better withstand field-level challenges.

For more details, read the article in Corteva Agriscience Media Center.