Patent Protection for TAL Effector Technology Enables Licensing Path for Life Technologies Customers
CARLSBAD, Calif., May 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) announced today the issuance of a new patent covering nucleic acids encoding Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nuclease fusion proteins (TALENS) and the formal launch of an associated sublicensing program. The technology has broad utility in the pharmaceutical industry, synthetic biology, and plant sciences for creating genetically modified cell lines, animals and plants, and is being actively explored for potential uses in human gene therapy.
Life Technologies has exclusive rights to U.S. Patent No. 8,420,782 B2, "Modular DNA-Binding Domains and Methods of Use" issued April 16, a fundamental intellectual property for all applications of TAL effectors in fields outside commercial use in plants. Life markets TALENS under the brand name GeneArt® Precision TAL Technology. TAL effectors bind to specific DNA sequences with higher precision than zinc finger binding proteins and can be used to deliver a variety of functional elements to activate or repress gene expression or cut and insert DNA.
"The GeneArt® Precision TAL technology is being employed in numerous commercial R&D applications, including identification of new pharmaceutical compounds, disease modeling and bioproduction technology," said Nathan Wood, general manager and vice president of synthetic biology at Life Technologies. "Their ability to bind to DNA with unprecedented precision and reliability makes TAL effectors invaluable to researchers looking to edit genomes and control gene activity."
The current patent names Jens Boch, Ulla Bonas, Thomas Lahaye and Sebastian Schornack as inventors, and is based on work conducted at Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg. The Two Blades Foundation, a U.S.-based charitable organization, owns exclusive rights to commercial applications in plants and is committed to making TAL technology broadly available through licensing.
"Patent protection brings increased assurance to our industrial customers with regard to bringing new products to market," said Wood, "and for our agriculture customers, through our strong partnership with Two Blades, a path forward in commercializing their R&D efforts."
Among Life Technologies' first sublicensees of TAL technology are ToolGen, Inc., which is using the technology to generate transgenic animal models and cell lines and Cellular Dynamics International, which is applying TAL effectors to introduce or correct disease-associated mutations in induced pluripotent stem cell lines.
GeneArt® Precision TALs are supplied as Gateway® compatible entry clones encoding a DNA binding protein for a specific customer-submitted sequence fused to a range of customer selected effector domains. Custom TALs are typically delivered within two weeks after orders are placed.
For more information about TAL technology, please visit www.lifetechnologies.com/TAL.
About Life Technologies
Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company that is committed to providing the most innovative products and services to leading customers in the fields of scientific research, genetic analysis and applied sciences. With a presence in more than 180 countries, the company's portfolio of 50,000 end-to-end solutions is secured by more than 5,000 patents and licenses that span the entire biological spectrum -- scientific exploration, molecular diagnostics, 21st century forensics, regenerative medicine and agricultural research. Life Technologies has approximately 10,000 employees and had sales of $3.8 billion in 2012.
Life Technologies' Safe Harbor Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements about Life Technologies' anticipated results that involve risks and uncertainties. Some of the information contained in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements as to industry trends and Life Technologies' plans, objectives, expectations and strategy for its business, contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words "believe," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "target," "estimate," "expect" and the like, and/or future tense or conditional constructions ("will," "may," "could," "should," etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. Important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are detailed in filings made by Life Technologies with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Life Technologies undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
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Life Technologies Contact
Suzanne Clancy
760-602-4545
858-205-4235 (mobile)
suzanne.clancy@lifetech.com
SOURCE Life Technologies Corporation
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