WOBURN, Mass., July 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq: YTEN ), a Company developing new technologies to create step-changes in yield for major food and feed crops to enhance global food security, today announced that it has named Jay J. Thelen, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry at University of Missouri (“MU”) to its Scientific Advisory Board (“SAB”).

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Thelen to our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Oliver Peoples, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Yield10 Bioscience. “Dr. Thelen and his team at University of Missouri have conducted innovative research focused on developing advanced technologies for boosting oil content in oilseed crops, including gene traits we call C3007 and C3010. We look forward to his contributions as an advisor as we move forward developing novel yield traits intended to boost oil content in both specialty and commodity oilseed crops.”  

Jay J. Thelen, Ph.D., is currently a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Missouri where he has been since 2002, as well as a researcher at the Bond Life Sciences Center . His recent research has led to two fundamental discoveries related to the activity and regulation of the ACCase complex, a key enzyme involved in oil production. Dr. Thelen received a B.S. in biological sciences from the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Michigan State University.

“Last year, Yield10 took an option to evaluate our research involving advanced crop science technology to boost oil content in oilseed crops based on a target called ‘BADC’, a novel, negative regulator of ACCase, a key enzyme in oil biosynthesis,” said Dr. Thelen.  “Yield10’s approach to innovate and expand crop yield is based on incorporating metabolic engineering and predictive models to enable gene discoveries, approaches that directly complement the work we are doing in my lab to identify new genetic targets for increasing oil content. I look forward to working with Yield10 as the company develops new ways to improve oil yield and ultimately, the economics of healthy, edible oils.” 

Recently, Yield10 signed an exclusive worldwide license with the University of Missouri covering two novel gene technologies to boost oil content in oilseed crops including Camelina, canola and soybean. This agreement provides Yield10 with access to the novel genome-editing targets and patent applications related to C3007 and C3010.  

About Yield10 Bioscience

Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. is focused on developing new technologies to achieve step-change improvements in crop yield to enhance global food security. Yield10 has an extensive track record of innovation based around optimizing the flow of carbon in living systems.  Yield10 is leveraging its technology platforms and unique knowledge base to design precise alterations to gene activity and the flow of carbon in plants to produce higher yields with lower inputs of land, water or fertilizer. Yield10 is advancing several yield traits it has developed in crops such as Camelina, canola, soybean and rice. Yield10 is headquartered in Woburn, MA and has an Oilseeds center of excellence in Saskatoon, Canada. 

For more information about the company, please visit www.yield10bio.com .

(YTEN-G)

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 statements, including, without limitation, expectations regarding the development of C3007 and C3010 as traits deployed to boost oil content in oilseed crops and progress of Yield10 Bioscience, Inc., 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 Bioscience assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.

Contact:

Lynne H. Brum, 617-682-4693, LBrum@yield10bio.com

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