Linnaeus has secured the rights to a key piece of intellectual property that will allow it to be a significant player in the future of the application of biotechnology to crop produced industrial oils.

We are the exclusive licensee of the Carnegie Institution of Washington's rights to the castor and Lesquerella hydroxylase genes, promoters, related technologies and methods. This critical gene was discovered by Dr. Chris Somerville, head of the Carnegie Institute's Department of Plant Biology at Stanford University and one of the world's top experts in plant biotechnology.

This technology will allow Linnaeus to create lines of agronomic oilseed crops that produce hydroxylated fatty acids as part of their seed oil profile. Our current patent estate includes 8 issued US patents which cover: "Gene and method for producing hydroxy fatty acids in plant oilseeds."

Initially, Linnaeus intends to create lines of transgenic crop plants having as part of its genome the castor hydroxylase gene. The oil produced will be an alternative source of castor oil, which is 90% ricinoleic acid. The potential for this oil has already been established. It is the existing castor market.

In addition we are currently developing lines of crop plants with low level expression of Hydroxy Fatty Acids suitable as a base stock for motor oil.