August 9, 1995
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Mycogen Corporation (NASDAQ: MYCO) has received Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval to market seeds for corn hybrids that are genetically engineered to resist insect damage, clearing the way for commercial introduction in 1996.
The new hybrids produce a protein that protects them from European corn borers, a pest that costs U.S. farmers as much as $1 billion a year in lost yields. This protection reduces or eliminates the need for conventional corn borer insecticide applications. In addition to clearance to sell seeds, the EPA granted a Tolerance Exemption approving the grain from the transgenic corn plants for use in food products and as animal feed.
"Corn is America's largest crop, so this insect-resistance technology will produce tremendous economic and environmental benefits," said Jerry Caulder, Mycogen's Chairman, President & CEO. "Built-in protection from corn borers will give farmers higher yields without the expense and environmental side-effects of chemical insecticides. We expect this product to capture a significant share of the $2 billion U.S. seed corn market."
The gene responsible for corn borer resistance is a synthetic copy of a gene produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a naturally occurring microorganism. The gene causes the plant to produce Bt protein in the corn stalk and leaves where corn borers feed. Bt proteins have been used for more than 30 years in foliar sprays to selectively control pests such as corn borers without harming beneficial insects, animals or humans. They leave no toxic residue in soil or ground water.
In 1993, Mycogen and Ciba Seeds entered into a cross license agreement and research collaboration to develop insect resistant corn hybrids. Earlier this year, the EPA granted the two companies seed increase registrations to produce seeds for the transgenic hybrids. Through a parallel insect-resistance program, Mycogen also has developed and introduced corn hybrids with genetically enhanced natural resistance to corn borers. Those hybrids are not subject to EPA regulation, and were planted on more than 100,000 acres in 1995.
Caulder said the transgenic seed corn Mycogen is producing to market in 1996 contains both natural and Bt-based control genes to reduce the likelihood that corn borers might develop tolerance to a single control mechanism.
That combination is a key element of a "resistance management" program Mycogen has developed to preserve Bts' long-term usefulness as a crop protection tool. The program, which was included as part of Mycogen's final registration application, will use a variety of approaches to reduce the likelihood of insects developing tolerance to Bt proteins, as they have to many chemical insecticides. The EPA will monitor the results of that program for five-years.
Mycogen is a leader in Bt technology, with dozens of issued or pending U.S. patents covering Bt genes and proteins with demonstrated pest control activity. It was the first company to receive EPA registration for genetically engineered, Bt-based bioinsecticide sprays, and currently markets the only such products now on the market. It also holds broad U.S. and European patents that cover genetically engineering plants with plant genes or insecticidal genes to produce plants with pest resistance or other improved food or fiber characteristics.
Mycogen provides technology-based products and services to control agricultural pests and improve food and fiber production. Mycogen Plant Sciences develops and markets planting seeds for improved crop varieties with genetically enhanced insect-resistance and other value-added characteristics. Mycogen Crop Protection develops and markets environmentally compatible biopesticides and provides crop protection services to growers of high value crops in California and Arizona.
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