CIBUS SCIENCE
SCIENCE
Proof of concept papers, for corn, tobacco, rice, and wheat.

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Genetic modification through oligonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis. A GMO regulatory challenge?
(2009) In the European Union, the definition of a GMO is technology-based. This means that a novel organism will be regulated under the GMO regulatory framework only if it has been developed with the use of defined techniques. This approach is now challenged with the emergence of new techniques. In this paper, we describe regulatory and safety issues associated with the use of oligonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis to develop novel organisms. We present scientific arguments for not having organisms developed through this technique fall within the scope of the EU regulation on GMOs. We conclude that any political decision on this issue should be taken on the basis of a broad reflection at EU level, while avoiding discrepancies at international level.

Beetham (1999) A tool for functional plant genomics-chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotides
Zhu (1999) Targeted manipulation of maize genes in vivo using chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotides
Beetham (1999) A Tool for functional plant genomics; and Zhu (1999)-Targeted manipulation of maize genes; These papers were published in the same journal explaining the first application (proof of concept) of oligonucleotide gene targeting (a first generation of the Cibus RTDS technology) to corn and tobacco.

Zhu (2000) Engineering herbicide-resistant maize using chimeric RNA/DNA
Zhu (2000) Engineering herbicide-resistant maize; This paper was a follow on from the 1999 corn work confirming this technology could be used for crop improvement and the resulting novel trait was genetically inherited and stable.

Kochevenko and Willmitzer (2003)
Kochevenko and Willmitzer (2003) Tobacco confirmation - Max Planck Gemany; This paper describes multiple targeted mutations in tobacco, further endorsing and expanding the Beetham et al results.

Okuzaki and Toriyama (2004)
Okuzaki and Toriyama (2004) Research paper from a Japanese group on rice. This was the first proof of concept of RTDS in rice. This further extended the utility of RTDS to another mutation and different plant species.

Dong et al (2006)
Dong et al (2006) This paper was the first report of the newer generation of RTDS targeting oligonucleotide targeting in wheat.