Download Where Nature PerformsTM

Crop science innovations
from Metabolix
Canola Innovation Day,
Saskatoon, Canada
December 3, 2015
Why Yield10?
Breakthrough
Science
Outstanding
Team
Transformative Traits
Strong IP
Yield10
Bioscience
“Where Nature
Performs”
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Where Nature Performs TM
Global
Opportunity
Yield10 The Opportunity
A New Crop Science Paradigm to Enhance Global Food Security
9 October 2009
Revised June, 2015
GA/EF/3242
Food Production Must Double by 2050 to Meet Demand from
World’s Growing Population
Y10 is… aligned with compelling megatrends
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Global population growth from 7 billion to 9.6 billion by 2050
Reduction in available land due to infrastructure growth
Increased pressure on scarce water and other resources
Changing global weather patterns
Environmental issues with intensive agriculture
Realizing a New Vision for Agriculture:
A roadmap for stakeholders
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_IP_NVA_Roadmap_Report.pdf
Need… more than 100% increase in food production over the same period
But… can the current rates of crop yield increase get us there?
Reality… traditional breeding and business models cannot solve this problem
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 The Opportunity
A New Crop Science Paradigm to Enhance Global Food Security
Step change yield impact:
17% yield increase for corn
Plus traditional breeding
• Traditional breeding won’t get us there
• Failure could lead to global catastrophe
• Has re-opened the GMO conversation
• Technology solutions can be developed
…BUT…
• Global dissemination should be maximized
• New business models will be required
Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production by 2050
Deepak K. Ray, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Paul C. West, Jonathan A. Foley
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Global Food Security The Challenge
Recent developments in the global landscape for GMO food crops
Modi bets on GM crops for India's second green revolution
Green Business | Mon Feb 23, 2015 3:07am EST
NEW DELHI | By Krishna N. Das and Mayank Bhardwaj
…But allowing GM crops is critical to Modi's goal of boosting
dismal farm productivity in India, where urbanization is
devouring arable land and population growth will mean there
are 1.5 billion mouths to feed by 2030 - more even than China.
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Where Nature Performs TM
President Xi Jinping said China must “boldly research and
innovate, [and] dominate the high points of GMO techniques.”
An agricultural policy paper issued early this year calls for more
GMO research. A pro-GMO ad campaign from the agriculture
ministry began in September 2014. The official Xinhua News
Agency on Feb. 4, wrote, “GMO technology has long been
considered an effective way to increase yields on marginal lands.”
Yield10 Focus and Strategy
Develop and commercialize step change yield traits for food crops
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Differentiated technology approach and promising early results
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Screening and early development carried out in model crop systems
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C3 photosynthetic crops (soy, canola, wheat rice, etc.) use the oilseed Camelina sativa
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C4 photosynthetic crops (corn, sugarcane, sorghum, millet, etc.) use Switchgrass
Rapidly move traits developed in model systems into major food crops
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Early results in model systems generated from greenhouse and small scale field trials
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Lead trait being moved into canola, rice and soybean
Multiple options for value capture
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Develop and commercialize seed lines
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License or partner with established Agriculture industry players
Seeking funding for first 3 years of independent operations
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Yield10 structure to be negotiated with investors
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Focus on achieving proof points in major food crops, including multi-site field trails
Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Solution | Leveraging Biological Diversity
Average C4 Crop Yield
~ 5X higher than
Average C3 Crop Yield
“Food production must double by 2050 to meet demand from world’s growing population”
C3 Crops: Soybean, canola, wheat, rice, pulses, fruits, vegetables, etc.
C3 Crops ~ 90% of Global Food Supply
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Where Nature Performs TM
Crop Yield
Naturally higher yields in C4 crops
suggest it is biologically possible to
significantly increase C3 crop yields
C4 Crops: corn, sugarcane, etc.
Yield 10 has approaches for both C3 and C4 photosynthetic systems
Yield10 Solution | Seed Yield Example
A Metabolic Engineering Perspective on Increasing Seed Yield
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Systems based approach treating the entire plant as a carbon flow chart
C3 and C4 photosynthesis crops represent distinct scientific and technical challenges
Leverages learning from 30 years experience optimizing carbon flow in living systems
Focuses on key output of step change increases in seed yield
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Refining and Improving Camelina Platform
Camelina: A Versatile C3 Crop Platform Providing Quick Access to Field Ready Material
36 weeks
~3 cycles
Greenhouse “breeding”
seed bulk up
Transformation of
gene construct
Wild-type plants
Screening of seeds and lines
Homozygous
seed
Field trial
Yield10 Improvements to Camelina Platform
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CRISPR genome editing in progress
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Multiple CRISPR targets to improve yield identified (i.e. targets from RNA-SEQ of engineered high yield lines)
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Plastid engineering using novel delivery method in progress
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Target | Increase Yield in C3 Crops
A New Crop Science Paradigm to Enhance Global Food Security
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Over 90% of global food production is based on crops having the C3 photosynthetic system (canola, soybean, rice, wheat, potato, etc.)
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Objective: Enhance photosynthesis in C3 crops (C3003 gene trait)
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Well understood limitations of plant C3 photosynthetic systems
“Crop Moon shot- Convert C3 plants to C4 photosynthetic system”
Chloroplast
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Numerous prior efforts to solve this: no real success to date
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Technical problem concentration of CO2 available to the RUBISCO enzyme
Loss of fixed CO2 by photorespiration
Flow of CO2 through the leaf surface pores results in increased water loss
Yield can be increased under artificial conditions, high CO2 and high water
Photosynthetic bacteria and algae concentrate CO2 for RUBISCO
Potential for discovery and scientific breakthroughs
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3003 gene trait Proof of Concept achieved, now progressing multiple single insertion Camelina lines for multi-site field trials
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Proof of Concept in other crops ongoing
[additional information available under CDA]
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Target | Increase Seed Yield in C3 Plants
A New Crop Science Paradigm to Enhance Global Food Security
~30-40% of the CO2 fixed during photosynthesis is lost due to inefficiencies in plant metabolism
Yield10 brings 30 years of experience optimizing the flow of carbon in living systems
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These tools are now being applied in plants to reduce metabolic carbon loss, re-partition carbon and increase seed yield
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4 traits of increasing genetic complexity have been progressed through Proof of Concept in Camelina
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C3004 – addresses carbon partitioning to seed
C3005 and C3006 are complex multi-gene system traits which increase carbon metabolism efficiency
C3007 increases flow of carbon to seed oil
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Novel Pathway to Increase Seed and Oil Yield
Example: C3006 trait, complex novel multigene pathway
Unexpected benefits achieved:
1) Higher seed oil content
2) Increased seed size
Next Steps:
1) Determine performance under field conditions
2) Identify minimal gene sets to deliver yield increase
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Target | Increase Yield in C4 Plants
A New Crop Science Paradigm to Enhance Global Food Security
C4 plants include corn, sugarcane, sorghum, oil palm etc
C4 plants are much higher yielding than C3 plants and more drought tolerant
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e.g. Corn @ 160+ bu/acre
vs. soybean @ 43+ bu/acre
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C4 plants have a unique structural arrangement
of the mesophyll cells (where the C4 part of the
system takes place) and bundle sheath cells which
contain the RUBISCO pathway
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Introducing the full C4 system into C3 plants
would require a very large number of genes
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Yield challenge is not amenable to a purely metabolic engineering approach
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Developed a “Systems Approach” – T3 Platform – identify powerful global regulators to up-regulate complex gene cascades
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 T3 Platform
A New Crop Science Paradigm to Enhance Global Food Security
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The T3 Platform uses big data analysis based on complex algorithms to correlate networks of transcriptomes
from different crop species with physiological outcomes (functional modules) predictive of yield
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Objective: Identify key genes to control complex regulatory networks
Crop genomics “Big Data”
advanced transcriptome network analysis
Key global
regulatory genes
(GTF)
Complex genomics data
Functional modules
targeting pathways of interest
~ 36,000 genes
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Where Nature Performs TM
20 gene candidates
Functional Modules
1. Increase photosynthesis (light
harvesting pigments and electron
transport)
2. Increase central metabolism
(higher concentrations of carbon
intermediates)
3. Increase overall biomass yield
(switchgrass objective)
3 lead GTF genes
tested in switchgrass
Yield10 C4 Crop Example | Biomass Case Study
WT
+GTF1
+GTF2
+GTF3
C4001 Transgenic line 4
Photosynthesis
Chlorophyll
Carotenoids
144% of control
141% of control
+GTF1,3
Central Metabolism
Soluble sugars
Leaf starch
138% of control
160% of control
Total dry biomass
140% of control
WT
PAR
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Multiple transgenic lines in different germplasms were produced overexpressing the different GTF genes
identified using the T3 Platform
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Corresponding genes in major food crops have been identified
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Evaluation of the C4001 – C4003 gene traits is currently ongoing in other crops, including sugarcane
Solution: GTFs up-regulate complex regulatory networks
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Perspectives on Regulatory Risk
Indicative relationship between potential yield improvement and regulatory complexity
Technology Vector | Maximize yield | Minimize regulatory hurdles
Key Considerations:
100%
• Safety first
GMO
Complex number
and/or source of
transgenes
GMO
Potential
Seed Yield 50%
Increase
C3005 and C3006
Plant transgene
C3003,
Genome Editing
GMO
Pesticide/herbicide
transgenes
Increasing Technical and Regulatory Complexity
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Where Nature Performs TM
• Potential societal value (meet global
food need, improve quality of food,
e.g., golden rice and non-PUFA oils)
• Commercial value
C4001, C4003
C3004 and
C4001-3
• Need for clearly defined, sciencebased regulations
• Broad public acceptance in high risk
geographies such as Africa and India
will require a new non-centralized
seed company business model or
altruistic approach
Yield10 Commercialization Program
Yield10 Seed Line Development Major Ramp-up and Transition Underway in 2015
Proof of
Concept
Early
Development
Advanced
Development
Camelina C3003
Pre Launch
Commercial
2020
Canola C3003
2021
Soybean C3003
2022
Rice C3003
2021
Canola C3003/C3004
2021
Anticipate numerous
opportunities for value
capture along the path
to commercialization
Partnership/licensing discussions initiated for Corn / Cane and planned for Wheat / Rice / Potato / Cotton
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Where Nature Performs TM
Yield10 Investment Considerations
is… Aligned with compelling megatrends
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Global population growth from 7 billion to 9 billion by 2050 driving need for
>70% increase in food production over the same period
Growing pressure on water and land resources, issues with intensive agriculture
developing… Breakthrough technology for improved crop yield
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Novel yield trait technologies for both C3 and C4 photosynthetic crops
Foundation IP in place (owned/in-licensed)
Development/Scientific staff (16 FTEs) and research facilities in place
creates… Large addressable market opportunity
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Crop R&D $4 billion
GMO Seed $40 billion
Global food $4 trillion
enables… Numerous opportunities for value capture
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Where Nature Performs TM
Commercialize seed lines for select crops
Licensing and/or funded development projects with strategic partners
Thank You!
December 3, 2015