DuPont and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory extend collaboration

Date:11-08-2012

DuPont and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) announced the renewal for another five years of a research collaboration that began in 2007. This multi-million dollar collaboration supports cutting-edge plant biology research focused on meeting growing food demands worldwide.

With the world’s population expected to grow by more than 2 billion by 2050, this collaboration will help make possible crucial improvements in plant breeding that will help increase yields from available acreage.

"Innovative science and technology are at the core of productivity improvements that will allow us to meet global food security goals of ensuring that people everywhere have access to sufficient and nutritious food that meets their dietary need and food preferences for a healthy life,” said DuPont Agricultural Biotechnology Vice President John Bedbrook. "We must leverage all the science and technology tools available, including this important collaboration with CSHL. Our collaboration has contributed to – and will continue to contribute to – increasing our understanding of the basic genetic mechanisms controlling plant growth and development which will contribute to global food security in the coming decades.”

"CSHL’s successful partnership with DuPont Pioneer has fostered strong collaboration between a uniquely aligned group of research and industry scientists,” said CSHL President Bruce Stillman. "These two groups are leveraging each other’s strengths to achieve research results that we believe will lead to important improvements in crop yield around the world.”

CSHL and Pioneer are investing in discovery research that tackles some of the most fundamental aspects of plant biology. The renewal of the collaboration agreement will continue the expansion of knowledge about the genetic basis of fundamental plant processes controlling growth, development and yield. This collaboration will help facilitate the development of innovative products to meet future global food needs.

"As scientists, we get excited about seeing our discoveries translated into real-world applications,” said Rob Martienssen, a CSHL professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. “It is clear that basic research in these areas has the potential to radically change the face of the agricultural industry.”