Yield10 Bioscience Announces Successful Evaluation of Emergence and Establishment in Field Tests of Winter Camelina Varieties

WOBURN, Mass., Aug. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq:YTEN), an agricultural bioscience company, today announced that it conducted field testing during the 2019/2020 winter season to evaluate emergence of winter Camelina sativa varieties. Yield10 is developing double haploid lines as a foundation for Camelina development and breeding for crossing in new performance traits. The testing of these winter varieties is part of Yield10’s development of Camelina sativa in the medium term for use at commercial scale as a cash cover crop for North America. Cover crops are becoming increasingly important to improve the sustainability of food production and maybe an ideal way for farmers to open up large areas for new crops producing novel products by complementing and not competing for acres with major food and feed crops while increasing farm revenue.

Two wild-type and two double haploid winter Camelina lines developed in-house by Yield10’s Canadian subsidiary, Metabolix Oilseeds, were studied in the field test. The winter Camelina plantings were conducted in August and September 2019 in Saskatchewan, Canada. Emergence of the seedlings after planting was in the range of 70-80% and 90-100%, respectively, depending on the date of planting. The field test site was snow covered from late October 2019 to mid-April 2020, and optimal spring emergence of the Camelina lines was observed in May 2020. Harvest of seed is expected in the third quarter of 2020 and seed generated in the study will be available for further planting and evaluation.

“Our team has developed new double haploid winter Camelina varieties which performed very well in our winter field trial under the extreme winter conditions encountered in Saskatchewan,” said Kristi Snell, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer of Yield10 Bioscience. “As development of our novel performance traits progresses, we envision deploying our traits in double haploid varieties of both winter and spring Camelina. Having this germplasm foundation will enable us to combine our proprietary traits in both Camelina varieties, expanding acreage potential for the crop. Double haploid Camelina lines have more uniform, stable performance, which is an important attribute for growers of commercial crops.”

About Yield10 Bioscience

Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. is an agricultural bioscience company developing crop innovations to improve crop yields and enhance sustainable global food security. The Company utilizes its proprietary “GRAIN“ (Gene Ranking Artificial Intelligence Network) gene discovery platform to identify gene targets to improve yield performance and value in major commercial food and feed crops. Yield10 uses its Camelina oilseed platform to rapidly evaluate and field test new trait leads enabling the translation of promising new traits into the major commercial crops. As a path toward commercialization, Yield10 is pursuing a partnering approach with agricultural companies to drive new traits into development in crops such as canola, soybean and corn. The Company is also developing Camelina as a platform crop for producing nutritional oils and specialty products such as PHA biomaterials for use in water treatment and bioplastics. Yield10 is headquartered in Woburn, MA and has an Oilseeds Center of Excellence in Saskatoon, Canada.

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Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release which are not strictly historical, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s intentions with regard to development of Camelina sativa for use at commercial scale as a cover crop for North America, the use of cover crops as a way to open up large areas for new crops producing novel products by complementing and not competing for acres with major food and feed crops while increasing farm revenue, plans to complete field tests with winter Camelina in 2020, the results and outcome of, and information gathered from, those tests, the ability to generate value from Camelina oil and meal, including but not limited to the ability to use the results of the tests in future studies or licensing, collaboration or other commercial activities, and whether the company’s traits will increase seed yield or boost oil content, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including the risks and uncertainties detailed in Yield10 Bioscience's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yield10 assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the matters described herein.

Contacts: 

Yield10 Bioscience:

Lynne H. Brum, (617) 682-4693,

Investor Relations: 

Bret Shapiro, (561) 479-8566,

Managing Director, CORE IR

Media Inquiries:

Eric Fischgrund,

FischTank PR

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at