{"id":2218,"date":"2023-12-12T12:43:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=2218"},"modified":"2024-08-20T12:32:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T16:32:01","slug":"usda-determines-insignum-agtech-corn-plants-can-be-sold-and-grown-without-restriction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/Q4\/usda-determines-insignum-agtech-corn-plants-can-be-sold-and-grown-without-restriction","title":{"rendered":"USDA determines Insignum AgTech corn plants can be sold and grown without restriction"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —<\/p> \n

A ruling by the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service allows farmers and growers to run trials on corn plants developed by Insignum AgTech. These plants use naturally occurring pigment to signal when specific plant stresses begin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Insignum AgTech CEO Kyle Mohler said the plant turns purple to indicate that a fungal infection has started but is not yet apparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohler, who earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in biochemistry from Purdue University\u2019s College of Agriculture, founded Insignum AgTech in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The USDA APHIS decision and its impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A Nov. 14 news release<\/a> from the USDA stated, \u201cThe U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently reviewed 12 plants modified using genetic engineering to determine whether they posed an increased plant pest risk as relative to non-modified comparators. \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAPHIS found these modified plants were unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated plants. As a result, they are not subject to regulation under 7 CFR part 340. From a plant pest risk perspective, these modified plants may be safely grown and bred in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohler said the announcement represents a milestone for Insignum AgTech and its customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt means our edited plants can be grown and tested across the U.S. without restrictive permits, opening the door for our customers to run trials,\u201d Mohler said. \u201cIt strengthens our ability to help farmers treat specific problems affecting their crops exactly when, precisely where and only if needed to sustainably increase crop production.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Ag
Insignum AgTech CEO Kyle Mohler speaks with farmers about the company\u2019s corn plants during its summer 2023 field day. The U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced in November the plants are not subject to regulation. (Photo provided by Insignum AgTech)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Mohler said the company will develop additional plant traits that utilize other natural pigments, like red or blue, to give an early indication of yield-limiting factors such as insect pests or fertility loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFarmers will gain the ability to sustainably and precisely treat when and where needed, ultimately increasing yields without arbitrarily increasing costly inputs,\u201d Mohler said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2023, Insignum AgTech and Beck\u2019s signed an agreement to test Insignum\u2019s corn traits in Beck\u2019s elite varieties<\/a>. In January 2022, Insignum AgTech received a $100,000 investment from the Purdue Ag-Celerator<\/a>, an agriculture innovation fund operated by the Purdue Foundry, with assistance from the Purdue College of Agriculture, the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization and the agricultural industry. Foundry and OTC are now part of the Purdue Innovates<\/a> network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Insignum AgTech<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Insignum AgTech<\/a> creates biotechnology that enables plants to use their pigments to warn growers about plant stresses, such as disease, insect pests or low fertility. For more information, see www.insignum.ag<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Purdue Innovates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Purdue Innovates<\/a> is a unified network at Purdue Research Foundation to assist Purdue faculty, staff, students and alumni in either IP commercialization or startup creation. As a conduit to technology commercialization, intellectual property protection and licensing, startup creation, and venture capital, Purdue Innovates serves as the front door to translate new ideas into world-changing impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org<\/a>. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact Purdue Innovates at purdueinnovates@prf.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A ruling by the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service allows farmers and growers to run trials on corn plants developed by Insignum AgTech. These plants use naturally occurring pigment to signal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,316],"tags":[],"department":[24],"source":[35],"purdue_today_topic":[],"coauthors":[44],"class_list":["post-2218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-prf","department-research-foundation","source-purdue-research-foundation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2218"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4079,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218\/revisions\/4079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}