Chromatin Reaches First Milestone in Research Collaboration With Dow AgroSciences

CHICAGO, Sep 12, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Chromatin Inc. announced today that they have reached the first milestone in their research collaboration with Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. This collaboration is focused on developing a novel combination of Chromatin's Mini-Chromosomes with Dow AgroSciences' EXZACT(TM) Precision Technology.

Chromatin's Mini-Chromosomes are autonomous genetic elements built to deliver a complex of traits of importance to growers, processors and consumers -- without impacting the native genome. Dow AgroSciences' EXZACT(TM) Precision Technology provides a versatile and comprehensive toolkit for targeted genome modification in plants and delivers a means for engineering multi-gene stacks, editing native genes and deleting undesirable traits.

The goal of the research program is to create a combined platform that allows for direct modification or updating of trait combinations, via EXZACT(TM), on a Mini-Chromosome inside a plant cell in real time, thereby avoiding the need to re-engineer a new Mini-Chromosome from the ground up. Such a platform would improve the flexibility and efficiency of the processes for creating and breeding new varieties carrying valuable traits. "The achievement of this milestone sets our research program and collaboration on a path to long-term success. Together, Chromatin and Dow AgroSciences aim to bring this technology innovation to the market, which will deliver value for crop developers and growers alike," said David Jessen, CTO of Chromatin.

About Chromatin:

Chromatin, Inc. is developing sustainable renewable energy-crop feedstocks for energy, fuel and chemical producers. It applies its proprietary technology programs to develop high-value next-generation sorghum seeds using its crop-breeding and biotechnology innovations. The company also licenses these innovative gene-stacking technologies to leading agriculture companies, and applies its technology platforms to its subsidiary, Sorghum Partners LLC, which supplies hybrid sorghum seeds in the US and more than 20 other countries. Chromatin is privately owned and based in Chicago. For additional information, please visit http://www.chromatininc.com .