Avesthagen granted US patent for GM crops

Bangalore, June 22, 2011: Avesthagen has been granted the patent by the US patent office for breakthrough Sunflower transformation and eco-friendly safe selection method that can replace the traditional antibiotic marker technology in GM crops. In the past, antibiotic resistance marker gene(s) have been used in developing GM crops which has raised world-wide opposition to the GM technology in general. Avesthagen’s Xylose Isomerase (XI) technology does not use antibiotics in the selection process thus successfully addressing public concerns. This positive selection process is based on the function imparted by the patented technology to metabolize certain carbohydrate compounds during the selection process.