Yield10 Bioscience Inc (YTEN)

[BMGS]

To fulfill biofuels’ promise, scientists boost plant oils with gene editing
November 25, 2018
https://cen.acs.org/energy/biofuels/fulfill-biofuelspromise-scientists-boost-plant/96/i47

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To Peoples, the future looks promising. A 20% increase in the yield of conventional oil crops like canola and soybean could boost the economic value of these crops by $10 billion, he says. If the current techniques work well in camelina, the company will attempt similar gene edits in canola and soybeans.

Although Yield10’s primary goal is to sell its camelina oil for human health products and as an ingredient for agricultural animal feed rather than as a feedstock for biofuels, Peoples says the gene-editing discovery made by Yield10 could be beneficial for that type of application too.

Yield10 won’t disclose the exact edits its scientists made to improve camelina’s oil production, citing proprietary information. But presentation slides shared online on Nov. 4 for investors indicate that edits to genes that the firm calls C3008a, C3008b, and C3009 work to increase oil production by simultaneously increasing fatty acid biosynthesis and blocking the metabolism of the synthesized lipid.

At the same time, Yield10’s Canadian subsidiary, Metabolix Oilseeds, is working to edit a gene the company has called C3007 in camelina and canola. Gene C3007 encodes a protein that negatively regulates a key enzyme in fatty acid biosynthesis, acetyl-CoA carboxylase. By decreasing the activity of this negative regulator, the firm aims to boost the enzyme’s activity and make more plant oil.
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