DuPont, Genencor hit new milestones in corn-based PDO

14 October 2002 22:33  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--DuPont told CNI Monday it has achieved new milestones in its research to develop corn-based polymers and believes the process can become commercial.

The company declined to predict a target date for commercialisation of the process developed through an alliance with Genencor International. But DuPont did say the progress of its work with Genencor triggered a new announcement updating one from May 2001 when DuPont described the research as a "breakthrough."

Rick Straitman, a spokesman for the DuPont Bio-Based Materials unit, told CNI that development of the "microbe has reached a level of efficiency that makes the process economical. We have a robust process that is closer to becoming commercial."

That microbe converts glucose into the monomer 1,3 propanediol (PDO) used by DuPont in its Sorona 3GT polymer platform.

John Ranieri, vice president of the DuPont unit, called the latest developments "the crowning success of our seven-year collaboration with Genencor."

He also said they represent a "major step" in DuPont's "movement toward sustainability through the use of renewable natural resources."

DuPont and Genencor said they used pathway engineering to combine DNA from several difference micro-organisms into one production strain resulting in a "500-fold increase in bioprocessing productivity."

Genencor is headquartered in Palo Alto, California while DuPont is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

By: Gary Taylor
+1 713 525 2653

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