GrassRoots profiled by NC Biofuels Center
Jun 23, 2010
GrassRoots was recently profiled by the NC Biofuels Center in their newsletter: http://www.biofuelscenter.org/index.cfm?page=newsletter&id=99GrassRoots awarded USDA grant
Jun 15, 2010
USDA awards GrassRoots $400,000 for a Phase II SBIR grant. The grant will fund GrassRoots' research aimed at improving root architecture in energy crops.GrassRoots CEO Dr. Philip Benfey elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Apr 27, 2010
Dr. Philip Benfey, CEO of GrassRoots Biotechnology, Paul Kramer Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Systems Biology at Duke University was elected to the National Academy of Sciences today. The official press release from the National Academy of Sciences is as follows:72 NEW MEMBERS CHOSEN BY ACADEMY
WASHINGTON-- The National Academy of Sciences today announced the election of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates from 14 countries in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
The election was held this morning during the business session of the 147th annual meeting of the Academy. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,097. Foreign associates are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States.Today's election brings the total number of foreign associates to 409.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln that calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.
Additional information about the Academy and its members is available online at http://www.nasonline.org.
Newly elected members and their affiliations at the time of election are:
ALLEN, FRANCES E.; IBM Fellow Emerita, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.
AMON, ANGELIKA; professor of biology, department of biology, Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
ANDERSON, PORTER W.; senior lecturer, Harvard Medical School, Boston
BELL, ALEXIS T; Theodore Vermeulen Professor of Chemical Engineering, department of chemical engineering, University of California, Berkeley
BENFEY, PHILIP; Paul Kramer Professor of Biology, department of biology, Duke University, Durham, N.C
BENNETT, VANN; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and James B. Duke Professor of Cell Biology, departments of cell biology, biochemistry, and neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
BERNARD, H. RUSSELL; Professor Emeritus, University of Florida, Gainesville
BISSELL, MINA J; Distinguished Scientist, life sciences division, E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif
BURBANK, DOUGLAS W; professor of geology and director, Institute for Crustal Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
To view the complete list, please click here.
GrassRoots selected to participate in NCBC Industrial Fellowship Program
Apr 22, 2010
GrassRoots Biotechnology was chosen to participate in the Industrial Fellowship Program offered by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBC). The fellowships are funded by the NCBC with a portion contributed by the company sponsor. This year, five out of 18 companies from across the state were chosen to sponsor this program.The Program was instituted by the NCBC to enable Ph.D. scientists to transition into scientific careers in industry. Successful fellowship applicants are placed in two year fellowships with selected NC biotechnology companies. During the two year program, fellows will conduct research in an industrial setting and participate in professional development opportunities at the NCBC. Through this experience, fellows will gain professional experience and establish contacts for future employment in high-level industry scientific positions.
Fellowship applications are accepted through NCBC until May 15, 2010. Details on the NCBC Industrial Fellowship Program can be found here.
GrassRoots Director of Research and VP Dr. Tedd Elich wins 2009 Wisconsin Sportsman of the Year Award
Feb 19, 2010
Dr. Tedd Elich, Directer of Research and VP of GrassRoots Biotechnology was awarded 2009 Wisconsin Sportsman of the Year. This prestigious title is awarded to a single individual for all round sportsman achievements in the preceding year. Judging criteria are based on time spent, difficulty and productivity in these sporting activities. The award plaque is currently on display in Dr. Elich's residence.STTR and SBIR grants help build GrassRoots Biotechnology
Feb 17, 2010
SBTDC newsletter, North Carolina SBIR/STTR Success Story--GrassRoots Biotechnology is an agricultural biotechnology company that was founded in July of 2007 by Dr. Philip Benfey, a Duke Biology Professor, and Doug Eisner, a recent graduate of the Duke Business School and of the SBTDC’s summer internship program. The company was started to commercialize technologies developed by Dr. Benfey in his laboratory at Duke University, but had no funding to continue development of the technologies. As a client of the SBTDC, GrassRoots worked with the organization to help craft its applications for SBIR and STTR federal grants.
As a result, the NSF awarded GrassRoots a $150,000 STTR grant, which, along with a matching grant from the NC Dept. of Commerce allowed the company to partner with Duke University on a research project. It enabled GrassRoots to leverage Duke University’s lab facilities to advance its research and was critical to GrassRoots’ progress.
To read more, click here for a link to this article.
GrassRoots Biotechnology is awarded Phase II STTR grant
Jan 15, 2010
The National Science Foundation has awarded GrassRoots Biotechnology a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II grant in the amount of $500,000. This grant funds a continuation of the Phase I research to identify new and improved promoters to create enhanced genetically modified crops for agriculture and the biofuel industry. The relatively few plant promoters in use today have significant limitations including inconsistent effects across different growing conditions and a lack of predictability. GrassRoots is implementing a novel pipeline for promoter discovery that starts with a sophisticated bioinformatics analysis to identify high confidence promoter candidates. These candidates are assessed in transgenic plants for cell-type-specific expression, developmental-stage-specific expression, and responsiveness to environmental stimuli. New and enhanced plant promoters will facilitate advances in food and bioenergy crop improvement.Durham Plant Biotech Firm Sprouts Firm Roots, Fast Growth
Aug 6, 2009
North Carolina Biotechnology Center News, In Focus Feature--After 13 years as a lawyer and prosecutor in the New York District Attorney’s office, Doug Eisner has joined the growing cadre of entrepreneurs from around the country who are putting down roots in the Triangle.But Eisner is REALLY putting down roots.
He’s co-founder and chief operating officer of the Duke University spin-out company GrassRoots Biotechnology, a fast-rising Durham plant biotechnology firm that got start-up help last year with a $25,000 low-interest business development loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
Eisner found himself in the Triangle because he wanted something from life he wasn’t getting by practicing law. So he enrolled in the MBA program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. There, he and three others had an opportunity to conduct a research project for Philip Benfey, Ph.D., professor and chair of Duke’s biology department.
The rest is history in the making as Eisner took his newly minted MBA and, with some of his Duke colleagues, established GrassRoots.
Shortly after the Biotechnology Center loan was approved, and partly bolstered by that vetting process, GrassRoots landed a $150,000 Phase I Small Business Technology grant from the National Science Foundation.
Then came another boost. “Phil Benfey is well-known and well-respected in the plant biology world,” said Eisner. “He developed a research plan, and our director of research showed that to Monsanto.” The company signed a three-year pact in January with Monsanto to explore ways to use GrassRoots technology to discover promoters and genes for improving Monsanto’s row crops.
Then, earlier this year, GrassRoots also won an $80,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study new ways of turning grasses into ethanol.
To read more, click here for a link to this article.
GrassRoots Biotechnology picks new home
Jun 8, 2009
Call it a win for downtown Durham over its neighbors at Research Triangle Park. GrassRoots Biotechnology is moving its offices to downtown Durham's Venable Center in an 8,300-square foot space on the second floor of the Dibrell A warehouse building. With the addition of new space, GrassRoots is expected to grow to 25 employees at its new home."We are excited to have GrassRoots at Venable," says Tucker Bartlett, chief operating officer of Scientific Properties, owners of the Venable Center campus, a historic rehabilitation project of the former Venable Tobacco Co. buildings."Their commitment to the environment through crop solutions fits with Scientific Propertiesí sustainable operating practices. This, coupled with our companyís lab background, made working with GrassRoots a natural fit." To read more, click here for a link to this article.
Duke spinoff Grassroots Biotechnology gets SBIR grant
Mar 13, 2009
Triangle Business Journal, Raleigh/Durham-- Startup company GrassRoots Biotechnology Inc. has received an $80,000 grant from the federal government to fund research into how to turn grasses into ethanol.
GrassRoots and Monsanto Collaborate to Identify Novel Technologies for Gene Expression; Gene Discovery Another Focus of Collaboration
Jan 27, 2009
ST. LOUIS and DURHAM, N.C., PRNewswire-FirstCall -- As farmers look to get more out of each acre of farmland, St. Louis-based Monsanto is exploring unique ways to discover and deliver more desirable traits through the seed. Monsanto's new collaboration with GrassRoots Biotechnology Inc. is expected to do just that by expanding the benefits of Monsanto's research and product portfolio for its farmer customer.
Today, Monsanto announced that it has established a three-year collaboration with GrassRoots Biotechnology Inc., based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to source novel genetic elements, including promoters and genes, which can enable crops to express traits that enhance and protect yield.
Promoters are segments of DNA that determine when and where a trait is expressed within a plant. Monsanto will use the promoters sourced from GrassRoots in a broad range of crops, including corn, soy, cotton and canola, to optimize an array of biotechnology traits.
GrassRoots is a start-up company co-founded by Duke University professor, Philip Benfey, a leader in plant biology research. GrassRoots uses a variety of methods, including computational approaches, to identify promoter candidates. Once specific promoter sequences are identified, the information can be further used to design novel promoters for the expression of desirable traits in plants.
"The availability of high-quality promoters with specific expression patterns for use in commercial products is limited, so there is value in developing novel promoters to drive new traits," said Steve Padgette, vice president of biotechnology for Monsanto.
"A robust promoter toolbox can further leverage Monsanto's extensive gene library and lead to the development of more biotechnology-based crop products with a greater number of characteristics such as higher yield, and tolerance to insects, weeds and other stresses," Padgette said.
Such tools will be critical in helping Monsanto meet its sustainability goal of doubling yields in core crops by 2030, he said.
"We will need to use the best technologies available to maximize the potential of these crops," Padgette said.
Another goal of the collaboration is to identify genes that help plants fight environmental stresses such as nitrogen deficiency. The collaboration is expected to build upon Monsanto's research philosophy of developing valuable families of technologies for the challenges farmers routinely face on farm.
"We are excited to form an alliance with Monsanto," said Philip Benfey, president and chief executive of GrassRoots. "Our technologies and expertise combined with Monsanto's commercialization pipeline will provide a means of rapidly moving new genes and promoters into the field."
About Monsanto Company
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large- scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about our business and our commitments, please visit: www.monsanto.com .
About GrassRoots Biotechnology
GrassRoots Biotechnology, Inc. is a start-up company based in Research Triangle Park, NC. The company was founded to advance and commercialize technologies developed by co-founder Dr. Philip Benfey in his laboratory at Duke University. GrassRoots' core technology, the RootArray system, makes it possible to monitor gene expression within developing plant roots, thus providing new insight into the mechanism of genetic control of plant development. The RootArray facilitates the discovery of genes and gene promoters that could produce higher-yielding crops better able to withstand environmental stresses, like drought and nitrogen deficiency.
GrassRoots also is developing an energy program to create enhanced biofuel crops. Independently, GrassRoots is developing a bioenergy research program. The company is creating enhanced biofuel feedstocks with increased biomass, more accessible cellulose to facilitate processing, and roots that sequester greater amounts of carbon.
Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, such as statements concerning the company's future product performance, regulatory approvals, business and financial plans and other non- historical facts. These statements are based on current expectations and currently available information. However, since these statements are based on factors that involve risks and uncertainties, the company's actual performance and results may differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, among others: the success of the companies' research and development activities; the costs of and the companies' abilities to access and enforce intellectual property needed for the collaboration; the costs and requirements of regulatory compliance and the speed with which approvals are received; public acceptance of biotechnology products; and other risks and factors detailed in the company's most recent periodic report to the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of the date of this presentation. The company disclaims any current intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements or any of the factors that may affect actual results.
SOURCE: Monsanto Company
Contact: Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair (314) 694-4490