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Syngenta Adapts High-Volume Genotyping Technology for Agricultural Biotechnology

3/15/2010

  • Syngenta is the first to adopt technology from Douglas Scientific to improve efficiency for genetic analysis of plant matter.
  • New technology exponentially increases the amount of molecular marker data produced for marker-assisted breeding.
  • Syngenta will spotlight advances from this new technology at the 52nd Annual Maize Genetics Conference, March 18 to 21, 2010.
STANTON, Minn., USA — Syngenta will share information about the use of a new technology that improves efficiency and lowers the cost of genetic data production at the upcoming 52nd Annual Maize Genetic Conference in Riva del Garda, Italy, March 18 to 21. Array Tape™ technology, created by Douglas Scientific and first implemented in ag biotech by Syngenta, is beneficial for genotyping plant tissues in marker-assisted breeding. This technology presents a tremendous advantage over the technology that has been the industry standard for years. Small volume reactions combined with simple testing techniques make Array Tape an ideal platform for many applications.
 
Syngenta researchers worked closely with the Douglas Scientific team to adapt and deploy this technology to the ag biotech field. Syngenta was the first in the industry to implement it in their global molecular marker network. Etienne Kaszás, North American genotyping manager for Syngenta, will share the benefits of this genotyping platform for diverse maize breeding applications at the Maize Genetics Conference. 
 
“One of the greatest challenges for a marker assisted plant breeding program is the timely, precise delivery of genetic information to breeders and geneticists,” says Kaszás. “Millions of data points must be generated and reported on a weekly basis; and in order to meet this challenge, the deployment of high throughput genotyping platforms is critical. The technology from Douglas Scientific allows Syngenta to increase the amount of data points screened daily, which increases efficiency and lowers costs in the lab.”
 
Douglas Scientific has worked with companies across diverse industries, but Syngenta was the first to use the technology in the field of agricultural biotechnology. This is another example of Syngenta applying innovative applications developed in other fields to agriculture. 
 
“Syngenta has been a forerunner in adopting the Array Tape technology and was the first to implement it for agricultural discovery,” says Darren Cook, business development executive at Douglas Scientific. “This technology is producing a transformational change to high throughput screening in the agriculture industry and beyond.”
 
Syngenta is a sponsor of the 52nd Annual Maize Genetic Conference, where Kaszás will highlight the benefits of this genotyping platform for maize breeding to a global audience.
 
Douglas Scientific provides a revolutionary technology platform optimized for laboratory processing in embossed wells on a continuous array tape. Douglas Scientific, LLC is a company of Douglas Machine Inc. with corporate offices located at 3600 Minnesota Street, Alexandria, MN 56308.
 
Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more than 25,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life. For more information about us please go to www.syngenta.com.
 
 
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Media contacts:
Pam Molitor
Syngenta Seeds, Inc.
 
Casey Novak
Gibbs & Soell, Inc. Public Relations
cnovak@gibbs-soell.com, 919-870-5718
 
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The Syngenta logo is a registered trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. Array Tape™ is a trademark of Douglas Scientific.
 
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This document contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as ‘expect’, ‘would’, ‘will’, ‘potential’, ‘plans’, ‘prospects’, ‘estimated’, ‘aiming’, ‘on track’ and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. We refer you to Syngenta's publicly available filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks and uncertainties. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors. This document does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer, to purchase or subscribe for any ordinary shares in Syngenta AG, or Syngenta ADSs, nor shall it form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefore.