2Blades

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2Blades is an agricultural phytopathology non-profit [1] [2] which performs research to improve durable genetic resistance in crops, [3] [4] [5] and funds other researchers to do the same. 2Blades was co-founded by Dr. Roger Freedman and Dr. Diana Horvath [6] in 2004. [7]

Contents

Funding source

2Blades is partly funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation [3] [8] does its research at The Sainsbury Laboratory, [9] [10] among other locations [ which? ]. [10] One co-founder, Chairman Roger Freedman also works for Gatsby, which was founded by Lord David Sainsbury. [11] Freedman had pitched an idea to Sainsbury's venture capital company to begin investing in plant genetic engineering technologies, and although the board did so, they found someone else to lead it. [12] Freedman had wanted to run it, but was told that was not for him by Sainsbury. [12] Indeed, soon thereafter Sainsbury set up another early investment company specifically for Freedman and a colleague, and a separate non-profit for Freedman to grant money, both for plant science. [12] The non-profit was 2Blades. [12]

Research activities

2Blades routinely works in partnership with other crop disease organizations like CIMMYT [4] and BGRI. [13] The foundation also conducts research in partnerships with the industry, including with Bayer CropScience [14] [15] [16] and Monsanto. [17] The organisation's End the Blight campaign has been joined by CIP (the International Potato Center) [18] and Chairman of Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises Christopher Kennedy. This campaign is advancing research and delivering cultivars specifically for Phytophthora infestans in Africa. Mr Kennedy is chairman of 2Blades African Potato Initiative which is funding the delivery of a Victoria-based cultivar to East African markets. [19]

Crops and pathogens of research interest to the foundation include P. infestans on potato, [20] rye, [21] Phakopsora pachyrhizi on soybean, [14] [17] Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici on wheat, [22] and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense on Musa spp. [23]

References

  1. ↑ "2Blades Foundation". GuideStar Profile. 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  2. ↑ "2Blades Foundation - Evanston, IL". Cause IQ. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  3. 1 2 "2Blades Foundation, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, and UC Berkeley to Collaborate on Advanced Gene Editing to Fight Plant Disease in Wheat". Seed Today. 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  4. 1 2 "2Blades visita el CIMMYT". CIMMYT (in Spanish). 2016-01-07. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  5. ↑ "Two Blades Foundation". IPIRA. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  6. ↑ "Diana, Author at 2Blades Foundation". 2Blades Foundation. 2020-05-08. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  7. ↑ Ferry, Georgina (2017). A Better World is Possible: the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and Social Progress. London: Profile Books. ISBN   978-1-78283-385-7. OCLC   1009206455. p. 121
  8. ↑ "USDA awards grant to 2Blades Foundation to study wild wheat to help prevent diseases". TheFencePost.com. 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  9. ↑ "The 2Blades Group Archives". The Sainsbury Laboratory. 2021-06-05. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  10. 1 2 "UNC biologist is part of global effort that will investigate plant immunity". UNC College of Arts and Sciences . September 15, 2015. Archived from the original on June 5, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  11. ↑ Final Progress Report. Gordon Research Conference on Plant Molecular Biology. July 18–23, 2010.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "A Conversation between 2Blades Chair Roger Freedman and Our New Board Member Rob Horsch". 2Blades Foundation. 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  13. ↑ "Stacking plant disease resistance genes for improved resistance". BGRI . 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  14. 1 2 "Bayer, 2Blades Foundation Extend Agreement into 2023 to Bolster Asian Soybean Rust Research". CropLife . 16 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "Plant Experts Tag Team against Asian Soybean Rust". Crop Biotech Update. 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  16. ↑ "Bayer Annual Report 2020" (PDF). pp. 1–265. p. 46
  17. 1 2 "Monsanto and 2Blades Foundation Collaborate to Combat Devastating Soybean Disease". Bloomberg News . 2018-05-22. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  18. ↑ "End the blight". End the blight. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  19. ↑ Kennedy, Christopher. "An ask from Chris Kennedy". End the Blight. Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  20. ↑ "FUNDERS – Annual Report 2017". Annual Report 2017. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  21. ↑ Rabanus-Wallace, M. Timothy; Hackauf, Bernd; Mascher, Martin; Lux, Thomas; Wicker, Thomas; Gundlach, Heidrun; Baez, Mariana; Houben, Andreas; Mayer, Klaus F. X.; Guo, Liangliang; Poland, Jesse; Pozniak, Curtis J.; Walkowiak, Sean; Melonek, Joanna; Praz, Coraline R.; Schreiber, Mona; Budak, Hikmet; Heuberger, Matthias; Steuernagel, Burkhard; Wulff, Brande; Börner, Andreas; Byrns, Brook; Čížková, Jana; Fowler, D. Brian; Fritz, Allan; Himmelbach, Axel; Kaithakottil, Gemy; Keilwagen, Jens; Keller, Beat; Konkin, David; Larsen, Jamie; Li, Qiang; Myśków, Beata; Padmarasu, Sudharsan; Rawat, Nidhi; Sesiz, Uğur; Biyiklioglu-Kaya, Sezgi; Sharpe, Andy; Šimková, Hana; Small, Ian; Swarbreck, David; Toegelová, Helena; Tsvetkova, Natalia; Voylokov, Anatoly V.; Vrána, Jan; Bauer, Eva; Bolibok-Bragoszewska, Hanna; Doležel, Jaroslav; Hall, Anthony; Jia, Jizeng; Korzun, Viktor; Laroche, André; Ma, Xue-Feng; Ordon, Frank; Özkan, Hakan; Rakoczy-Trojanowska, Monika; Scholz, Uwe; Schulman, Alan H.; Siekmann, Dörthe; Stojałowski, Stefan; Tiwari, Vijay K.; Spannagl, Manuel; Stein, Nils (2021-03-18). "Chromosome-scale genome assembly provides insights into rye biology, evolution and agronomic potential". Nature Genetics . 53 (4). Nature Research: 564–573. doi:10.1038/s41588-021-00807-0. hdl: 10138/328960 . ISSN   1061-4036. PMC   8035072 . PMID   33737754.
  22. ↑ Luo, Ming; Xie, Liqiong; Chakraborty, Soma; Wang, Aihua; Matny, Oadi; Jugovich, Michelle; Kolmer, James A.; Richardson, Terese; Bhatt, Dhara; Hoque, Mohammad; Patpour, Mehran; Sørensen, Chris; Ortiz, Diana; Dodds, Peter; Steuernagel, Burkhard; Wulff, Brande B. H.; Upadhyaya, Narayana M.; Mago, Rohit; Periyannan, Sambasivam; Lagudah, Evans; Freedman, Roger; Lynne Reuber, T.; Steffenson, Brian J.; Ayliffe, Michael (2021-01-04). "A five-transgene cassette confers broad-spectrum resistance to a fungal rust pathogen in wheat" (PDF). Nature Biotechnology . 39 (5). Nature Research: 561–566. doi:10.1038/s41587-020-00770-x. ISSN   1087-0156. PMID   33398152. S2CID   230508442.
  23. ↑ "Fighting Fusarium wilt to beat the bananapocalypse". The Global Plant Council. 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2021-06-05.

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