DNA Plant Technology was an early pioneer in applying

transgenic A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

to problems in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

. The company was founded in Cinnamonson,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and moved to California in 1994. Some of the plants and products they developed included vine sweet mini peppers, the

Fish tomato A genetically modified tomato, or transgenic tomato, is a tomato that has had its genes modified, using genetic engineering. The first trial genetically modified food was a tomato engineered to have a longer shelf life (the Flavr Savr), which was ...

and Y1 tobacco. In 1996 the company merged with the Mexican conglomerate Empresas La Moderna, through its Bionovo subsidiary. In 2002, Bionova shut down DNA Plant Technology.

History

DNA Plant Technology was founded in 1981 by Dr. William R. Sharp and Dr. David A. Evans, in Cinnaminison, New Jersey, "to develop tastier, value-added plant-based products for industrial and consumer markets" using " advanced plant-breeding techniques, tissue-culture methods and molecular biology in developing premium food products and improving agricultural raw materials."Penny Singer for ''The New York Times''. July 13, 198
Mt. Vernon Group Is In Quest To Breed 'Perfect' Vegetables
/ref> By 1986, the company had gone public (NASDAQ:DNAP), and had partnerships with American Home Foods, Campbell Soup, Firmenich (a fragrance and flavor company), General Foods, Koppers Company, Hershey Foods, Brown and Williamson Tobacco, United Fruit, and others. By 1992 the company was investing heavily in genetic engineering and had invented, and obtained an issued patent for, the fish antifreeze gene that would become part of the infamous

. In 1993, DNAP purchased the Freshworld premium fruit and vegetable brand from Du Pont for a mixture of shares, cash and intellectual rights valued at over $30 million. In 1994, their headquarters moved to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. In 1996, the company was out of cash, and agreed to a merger with Empresas La Moderna, S.A. de C.V. (NYSE/ADR:ELM) (“ELM”) through ELM's subsidiary, Bionova, which also controlled the seed company,

Seminis Seminis is a developer, grower, and marketer of fruit and vegetable seeds. Seminis' hybrids claim to improve nutrition, boost crop yields, limit spoilage and reduce the need for chemicals. Their retail line includes over 3,500 seed varieties. ...

.Staff, SeedQuest. September 27, 199
Shareholders of DNA Plant Technology approve merger with unit of Empresas La Moderna
/ref> The company became a wholly owned subsidiary of DNAP Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: DNAPD) of which it retained a 30% equity stake. ELM and Bionova were controlled by Alfonso Romo Garza. ELM was a company based in Monterrey, Mexico that operated in three fields: cigarettes (where it held 53% of the Mexican market), vegetable seeds, and packaging. In 1999 DNAP Holding Corporation changed its name to Bionova Holding Corporation and changed its NASDAQ ticker to BNVA. In 2002 Bionova closed down its R&D operations, which had been carried out through its DNA Plant Technology subsidiary.

Major works

Fish tomato

In 1991, DNA Plant Technology applied for and were granted permission to conduct a field test permit for their

fish tomato A genetically modified tomato, or transgenic tomato, is a tomato that has had its genes modified, using genetic engineering. The first trial genetically modified food was a tomato engineered to have a longer shelf life (the Flavr Savr), which was ...

product (tomato; antifreeze gene; staphylococcal Protein A) from the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) based in Riverdale, Maryland responsible for protecting animal health, animal welfare, and plant health. APHIS is the lead ...

. This product remains controversial in the history of biotechnology, because an antifreeze gene isolated from an

arctic flounder The Arctic flounder (''Liopsetta glacialis''), also known as the Christmas flounder, eelback flounder and Polar plaice, is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish that lives on coastal mud bottoms in salt, brackish and f ...

was transgenically inserted into a tomato in an attempt to create a frost-tolerant tomato. Although this product was tested in a greenhouse, and may have been tested in the field, it was never commercialized. In 1995, DNA Plant Technology unveiled a second generation of a different transgenic tomato and served it at a meeting of its shareholders. That same year, DNA Plant Technology sold its wholly owned subsidiary called to Frost Technology Corporation to

Simplot The J. R. Simplot Company (commonly referred to as Simplot) is an agribusiness company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. History Simplot was founded in 1929 by 20-year-old John Richard Simplot near the agricultural community of Declo in south ...

Tobacco

Via its collaboration with the cigarette company, Brown & Williamson, DNA Plant Technology developed a genetically engineered cultivar of tobacco with a higher nicotine content, based on a high-nicotine strain already owned by Brown & Williamson called Y-1. Brown & Williamson and DNA Plant Technology were indicted by the US government for exporting the seeds to Brazil in violation of the Tobacco Seed Export law.

Popcorn

In the mid-1980s, DNAP attempted to use somaclonal variation with corn to produce buttery-tasting popcorn without the need to add

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

Discovery of gene silencing

While working for DNA Plant Technology, the scientists Richard A. Jorgensen and Carolyn Napoli made discoveries about post transcriptional gene silencing that went on to form the basis of a number of U.S. patents on gene regulation and crop manipulation. Key experiments in the control of plant transgene expression were performed by Jorgensen after he joined DNA Plant Technology corporation / Advanced Genetic Sciences, Inc., including the modification of flower color in ornamental plants. This research led to the discovery of

gene silencing Gene silencing is the regulation of gene expression in a cell to prevent the expression of a certain gene. Gene silencing can occur during either transcription or translation and is often used in research. In particular, methods used to silence ge ...

when an extra copy of a key gene yielded white rather than blue flowers.

Legal controversy

In the 1990s, the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

targeted DNA Plant Technology, charging that it had illegally smuggled Y1 Tobacco seeds out of the United States. The

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States ...

charged DNA Plant Technology with one misdemeanor count of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

to violate the Tobacco Seed Export law, prohibiting the export of tobacco seeds without a permit (a law which was repealed in 1991). DNA Plant Technology pleaded guilty in 1998 and agreed to cooperate with further investigations of Brown & Williamson. However, the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

eventually ruled in March 2000 that the FDA did not have the authority to regulate tobacco as a drug.

References

{{Reflist Agriculture companies of the United States Defunct biotechnology companies of the United States Biotechnology companies established in 1981 Biotechnology companies disestablished in 2002 Defunct technology companies based in California Genetic engineering and agriculture 1981 establishments in New Jersey 2002 disestablishments in California