Calyxt Announces Expansion of Hemp Breeding Platform with Seedless Hemp Innovation

Calyxt, Inc., today announced further expansion of its hemp breeding platform with the addition of triploid breeding technology to create seedless hemp.

Bringing this technology to hemp cultivation comes on the heels of the company announcing the successful transformation of the hemp genome. Together, these advancements demonstrate industry leadership in modernizing the crop.

“It’s our mission at Calyxt to harness plants to generate valuable products” said Sarah Reiter, Chief Business Officer, Calyxt, Inc. “With our suite of innovations already announced and more still in development, hemp’s potential as a system for production of healthy, plant-based protein, oil and alternatives to plastics is within our reach. Our goal is to enable easy access and use of our patent-pending triploid seed technology by partners across the industry in order to convert the potential benefits of hemp to reality as quickly as possible.”

Like seedless watermelon, seedless hemp can offer significant advantages in crop management and harvest potential. For hemp fiber production, a seedless crop can improve fiber quality and increase yield. Grain production for hemp protein and oil derivatives can also be enhanced with a breeding program based on controlled pollination, effectively eliminating the threat of rogue pollinators that can suboptimize yields.

“Triploid hemp is an important step forward in modernizing the crop,” said Travis Frey, Chief Technology Officer, Calyxt Inc. “From a breeding perspective, it’s a foundational technology to rapidly unlock advancements in hemp genetics. The resulting seedless, pollen-proof plants offer growers significant upgrades for their cropping system by de-risking broad acre cultivation, likely improving both quality and yield.”

Source

Calyxt, Inc., press release, 2021-07-08.

Supplier

Calyxt

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