2Blades Licenses TALEN Technology for Organelle Editing

2Blades has given a non-exclusive license to biotechnology company NAPIGEN for access to its Transcription Activator Like (TALEN) technology for applications in organellar genome editing. The editing of plant mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes opens new opportunities for altering traits in crop plants that have not yet been easily targeted by conventional methods with significant implications for improved crop nutrition, growth, and yield.

The TALEN technology is a set of programmable, targeted genome modifying tools based on novel, sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins. Since its discovery in 2009 by Ulla Bonas, Jens Boch, Thomas Lahaye, and Sebastian Schornack at Martin-Luther University in Halle, Germany, the use of the TAL code technology in plants has enhanced the efficiency and precision of editing numerous traits in a range of crops. 2Blades holds exclusive rights for commercial uses of the technology in plants and pioneered accessible gene editing licensing terms for all.

“We're pleased to complete a license with NAPIGEN to advance their efforts to edit plant organelles. TALENs remain an important and accessible gene editing platform in plants for developing more productive crops,” stated Diana Horvath, President of 2Blades.

For more details, read the news article on the 2Blades website.