Chromatin, Inc. Announces Commitment to Optimize Sorghum as a Feedstock for Renewables Market Applications

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) CHICAGO, IL – April 28, 2010 – Speaking today at the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., Chromatin, Inc. CEO Daphne Preuss will announce that the company is expanding its technology development portfolio to produce fit-for-purpose sorghum as a renewable feedstock for the biofuels, green power and renewable chemicals sectors.  

The company believes that sorghum varieties are most ideally suited as feedstocks based on their versatility, robustness and energy potential. In her presentation, “Designing Next Generation Feedstocks”, Preuss will describe how feedstock genetics can impact biofuel yields, how optimal feedstocks like sorghum can be created with Chromatin’s technologies, and how the company has accessed market-ready feedstocks.   “Feedstock quality and compositional attributes are key drivers of efficiencies for industrial bioprocessors, and whether the process requires starch, sugar or lignocellulose, we believe sorghum makes an ideal platform for feedstock development,” said Preuss. “By applying our proven and innovative technology portfolio to this plant, we will provide energy crops and value-added products that are uniquely suited for a broad range of applications, precisely matched to the needs of bioprocessors,” she said.   Sorghum is a globally cultivated crop with proven market acceptance and expanding commercial potential. The plant holds unmatched versatility for bioenergy applications because it is the only energy crop that can provide starch, sugar and lignocellulose. This makes it uniquely positioned as an adaptable, viable biomass source for both traditional and advanced liquid biofuels technologies as well as emerging markets such as biopower production. In addition, sorghum holds additional advantages as a preferred biomass source for sustainable bioenergy production: it is capable of growing across a wide geographic area within the US, offering a broad opportunity as a multi-regional, locally-available dedicated energy crop; sorghum thrives on marginal lands, is water and nutrient efficient and provides a low overall environmental footprint; and sorghum does not directly compete as a domestic food resource.   Chromatin will be further building and commercializing its sorghum product portfolio over the near term. Using a phased approach as a platform for improving sorghum over time, the company will use technologies such as compositional screening and analysis, marker assisted breeding and gene stacking to deploy proprietary feedstocks near term and ultimately to optimize sorghum for specific bioprocessors’ needs.    About Chromatin Chromatin, Inc. is a biotech company developing and marketing innovative technologies and products that benefit the agricultural, energy, chemical, nutritional, and pharmaceutical sectors. Since 2000, the company has successfully developed and commercialized its proprietary gene stacking technology, which can be used to simultaneously, and precisely introduce multiple genes in any plant. Now, by deploying a broad and unique intellectual property platform, Chromatin is developing specialized sorghum feedstocks for the renewables industry. These next generation, high-quality feedstocks are being designed by Chromatin’s elite team of experts to meet the precise yield and performance requirements of the bioprocessing industry. For additional information visit www.chromatininc.com.   Media Contact: Marc Tamo Blue Practice 415-987-2583 marc@bluepractice.com

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