Company Overview
Meiogenix SAS is a biotech company that holds worldwide exclusive license from the Institut Curie and the INRA for SpiX®, a key technology that modulates the frequency of homologous recombination (HR) in eukaryotic cells.
This technology accelerates and amplifies the natural process that introduces genetic diversity from parent organisms. Thus, it enables to generate novel natural varieties, which can bear high commercial potential, especially when parent strains manage to exchange traits of interest.
Download our Corporate Fact Sheet
Meiogenix Offices
3 rue Castex
75004 Paris, France
News
-
March 21, 2012
Meiogenix, Announces the Constitution of a Scientific Advisory Board
Meiogenix, a genomic biotech company developing a technology that modulates meiotic recombination (SpiX®), has announced the constitution of its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Alain Nicolas will chair the SAB, and is joined by Prof. Holger Puchta and Prof. Philip Avner.
-
September 4, 2011
Meiogenix presents a poster at the Conference Plant Genome Evolution 2011
With this project, we propose to modify the pattern of homologous recombination in plants by fusing Spo11 to different DNA binding domains. This system will lead to a controlled stimulation of DSBs, keeping, at the same time, the cells in their physiological environment
-
January 28, 2011
Meiogenix Applies Its Technology To Generate New Varieties Of Rice
Meiogenix and CIRAD signed a collaboration agreement to evaluate the impact of Meiogenix's SpiX® technology in modulating meiotic homologous recombination in the genome of rice. The research program could lead to the identification of new natural varieties of rice with high commercial potential.
-
January 8, 2011
Meiogenix SAS, A French Genomic Start-up Company, Raises 1,2M From Investors
Meiogenix SAS, a French start-up biotech company developing a new genomic technology, closed its first round of financing of 1,2M€ from Kurma Biofund, a French venture capital fund focused in Life Sciences.
Our partners
The company
Meiogenix is a spin-off of the Institut Curie based on a genetic recombination breakthrough discovered by Dr. Alain Nicolas. His group discovered that the fusion of the endonuclease Spo11 responsible for initiating the homologous recombination to a DNA binding protein can significantly alter the homologous recombination (HR) pattern in cells and increase the recombination rate in regions with otherwise very low events. This technology facilitates the natural process that introduces genetic diversity in organisms allowing the generation of novel natural varieties with commercial potential. SpiX® (Spo11 technology), is protected by a class of patents.
Meiogenix established two important academic partnerships around its technology. The fist collaboration with Dr. Nicolas at Institut Curie is to apply SpiX® in an animal model. The second collaboration is in the area of plant genomics, with Dr. Emmanuel Guiderdoni at CIRAD (Montpellier, France), a recognized specialist in rice genomics. The research program in rice aims at demonstrating that SpiX® is able to effectively generate natural varieties of rice with desired traits in regions where the frequency of HR is low.
The people
SpiX®
Meiogenix was founded by Dr. Alain Nicolas at Institut Curie, who has discovered that the fusion of the endonuclease responsible for initiating HR during meiosis (Spo11), to a DNA binding protein can significantly shift the HR pattern in cells and increase the recombination rate in regions that otherwise display very low rate of recombination events. The Spo11-endonuclease technology, labeled SpiX®, is protected by a family of issued patents and was published in peer-reviewed international journals.
Applications
Meiogenix sees major applications of the technology in mammalian cells and in plants. In particular in plant genomics, obtaining novel varieties of interest can be very difficult and expensive especially when the genes sought are located in regions with a very low recombination rate. By targeting and boosting the HR frequency in these regions, SpiX® will accelerate the identification of new genetic traits and reduce significantly the cost and timeframe for the development of novel plant varieties with important commercial applications. It is noteworthy that SpiX facilitates natural but difficult recombinations between distant varieties within a species, without introducing exogenous DNA constructs. Consequently, new plant varieties selected via this approach would not be qualified as GMOs and thus enjoy better public acceptance.In human health, new animal models for specific diseases remain an area of high interest for the pharmaceutical industry. Meiogenix's technology will facilitate the genetic engineering of species such as mouse, rat or fish. Lastly, the technology could also have an important impact in embryonic stem cells engineering and production.
The science
Organisms evolve and adapt to environmental changes through a series of mechanisms that introduce diversity in their genomes and transmit it to their progeny. The homologous recombination (HR) is the principal mechanism to introduce such diversity in eukaryotic cells and it has been used by the biotechnology industry to create novel organisms with interesting new characteristics, e.g. plant varieties.
The process of homologous recombination (HR) enables the exchange of nucleotide sequences between two similar or identical DNA strands. HR occurs in every cell. In somatic cells, it is mostly involved in the repair of endogenous and exogenous genotoxic lesions and involves sister chromatids as templates. In germline cells, HR further occurs during meiosis, a highly differentiated process that leads to the halving of the chromosome number and gamete formation. In sharp contrast to mitotic cells, HR in meiosis involves interaction between the paternal and maternal chromosomes allowing the exchange of genetic material between the parental chromosomes and ensuring proper chromosome segregation at the reductional division of meiosis. Indeed, defects in HR during meiosis lead to cell cycle arrest and/or abnormal chromosome distribution and, thus, are the source of infertility.
Figure 1
The process of meiotic homologous recombinationThe mechanism of meiotic HR is rather well understood at the molecular level. The principal steps are illustrated in Figure 1. Spo11, an evolutionary conserved endonuclease, initiates the meiotic HR by catalyzing the formation of meiotic double-strand breaks (DSBs) and recruits other proteins involved in the process. The process of recombination yields two types of recombinants, gene conversion (GC) events in which a few Kb (or less) of DNA have been copied from the homologous chromosome without exchange of the flanking regions (non reciprocal event) and crossover recombinants in which the flanking regions have been reciprocally exchanged. Meiotic recombination occurs at numerous places along the chromosome generating the genetic diversity transmitted by the gametes. It also occurs in numerous chromosomal regions but not everywhere and at the same rate. Some chromosomal regions frequently recombine, but others are "cold".
Figure 2
Distribution of meiotic DSBs along the yeast chromosome III
Figure 3
Time-course of double-strand break formation in the GAL2 gene upon induction of meiosis. The natural protein Spo11 does not form double-strand breaks in the 5' region of the GAL2 gene(left). The Gal4BD-Spo11 (SpiX® technology) fusion protein, by contrast, produces a single double-strand break in this gene (indicated by the arrow, right).Key Publications:
- Robine et al. Genome-wide redistribution of meiotic double-strand breaks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 2007 Mar;27(5):1868-80. Epub 2006 Dec 22.
- Peciña et al. Targeted stimulation of meiotic recombination. Cell. 2002 Oct 18;111(2):173-84.
Contact us
For more information, collaboration and licensing opportunities send us an email to:
Meiogenix, a genomic biotech company developing a technology that modulates meiotic recombination (SpiX®), has announced the constitution of its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Alain Nicolas will chair the SAB, and is joined by Prof. Holger Puchta and Prof. Philip Avner.
March 21, 2012
Dr. Alain Nicolas is a group leader at the Research Center of the Institut Curie, Paris. Dr. Nicolas pioneered research on the initiation of meiotic recombination in eukaryotic cells and is the inventor of the patented Spo11 Meiogenix's technology that stimulates homologous recombination at targeted sites in the genome.Prof. Holger Puchta holds the chair of plant molecular biology and biochemistry at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) where he elucidated major mechanisms of double-strand break repair in plants. His research interests centre on somatic and meiotic recombination in plants as well as green gene technology. Prof. Philip Avner is the head of the Developmental Biology Department of the Institut Pasteur where he also heads the Mouse Molecular Genetics Unit. His main research interests are the field of epigenetics and mouse genetics.
« During the past year, Meiogenix has made impressive advances with its R&D programs and I am confident that our scientific advisors will make significant contributions to our current and future R&D programs, thanks to the insights they bring », said Dr. Alain Nicolas, inventor of the SpiX® technology.
SpiX® can redirect meiotic recombination towards targeted genome areas, and stimulate rare recombination events. This holds promise for the generation of novel, but still natural, genetic diversity, and addresses companies involved in varietal R&D. Meiogenix is currently evaluating the impact of its technologies in rice and mouse and developing complementary breakthrough technologies to modulate the meiotic recombination. Meiogenix seeks industrial collaborations to apply SpiX® in other organisms of commercial relevance.
Meiogenix presents a poster at the Conference Plant Genome Evolution 2011
September 4, 2011
Meiogenix and CIRAD signed a collaboration agreement to evaluate the impact of Meiogenix's SpiX™ technology in modulating meiotic homologous recombination in the genome of rice. The research program which will be performed in the laboratory of Dr. Emmanuel Guiderdoni, an expert in rice genomics, could lead to the identification of new natural varieties of rice with high commercial potential.
January 28, 2011
Meiogenix holds a worldwide exclusive license from the Institut Curie and the INRA to modulate the frequency of homologous recombination in eukaryotic genomes. This technology facilitates the natural process that introduces genetic diversity in organisms allowing the generation of novel natural varieties with commercial potential and that would not be labeled as GMOs. « Besides being a good genetic model, rice is a plant that has an important impact in the worldwide food industry. Our technology can speed-up the development of new natural varieties with characteristics that may help the worldwide community facing food crisis » says Dr. Giacomo Bastianelli, CEO of Meiogenix.
Rice is the most important food crop of the developing world and the staple food of more than 3 billion people, i.e. more than half of world's population. It provides 20 percent of the world's dietary energy supply, while wheat only supplies 19 percent and maize 5 percent. The nutrient content of rice can be improved by using both traditional selective plant breeding techniques and new technologies, such as modification of the plant's genetic code.
« Combining favorable traits in new varieties or isolating genes of interest is often hampered by the low frequency of meiotic homologous recombination in target genome regions. CIRAD sees SpiX® both as a powerful tool to accelerate the development of new varieties and as a research tool to discover new traits. SpiX® has the potential of enhancing recombination in the vicinity of genes of interest, thereby accelerating their transfer or isolation by conventional methods » explains Dr. Guiderdoni.
Compared to other approaches, SpiX™ technology platform uses the natural machinery of the organism to introduce diversity in the progeny. It helps nature to do better what it already does with the result of facilitating the selection of new natural varieties. Meiogenix seeks to expand the collaborations and apply its breakthrough technologies in other plants and eukaryotic organisms.
Meiogenix SAS, a French start-up biotech company developing a new genomic technology, closed its first round of financing of 1,2M€ from Kurma Biofund, a French venture capital fund focused in Life Sciences.
January 8, 2011
Meiogenix SAS closes its first round of financing with Kurma Biofund last 26th of November with an investment of 1,2M € the company, a recent spin-off from the Institut Curie and the INRA-transfert in Paris, holds from the Institute Curie and the INRA an exclusive worldwide license for a technology that allows the modulation of the homologous recombination in eukaryotic cells.
« We are pleased to have Kurma Biofund as investor. This gives us the opportunity to further develop this breakthrough technology and validate it in several organisms. Our technology facilitates the natural process that introduces genetic diversity, allowing the generation of novel natural varieties of organisms with interesting commercial potentials, » says Giacomo Bastianelli, President and CEO of Meiogenix. The technology is based on Spo11, the enzyme that causes the double-strand break in the DNA and initiates the process of meiotic recombination before gamete formation. The Spo11-assisted technology, developed by Dr. Alain Nicolas who leads a CNRS group at the Institut Curie, allows targeted stimulation of natural genetic exchanges between the parental chromosomes leading to the diversification of the parental genetic information in progenies. «The mainstream application is the generation of novel varieties of microorganisms, plants and mammals, derived from natural variants. The beauty of the technology is that it helps a natural mechanism of the cell where the new varieties obtained will not be considered GMOs, » explains Alain Nicolas.
« This technology is very innovative and promising, but still needs two to three years of development prior to being used commercially. The financing brought by Kurma Biofund will allow filling this gap. In addition, Kurma Biofund brings around the table a group of experienced professionals who will help the company to make the right decisions. We and the INRA do hope that Meiogenix will be able to help putting on the market either new drugs for our patients, or new varieties of plants contributing to better feed humanity, » says Damien Salauze, director at Institut Curie. With the investment in Meiogenix, Kurma Biofund is realizing its first spin-off from the Institut Curie. « We are very proud of our investment in Meiogenix, a French company co-owned with Institut Curie and INRA-Transfert. I must thank Institut Curie, founding academic partner of Kurma Biofund, and Damien Salauze and his team for the professionalism and stamina that they have demonstrated in this complex process. Based on this first success, we are confident that more companies will be founded from this partnership with Institut Curie. This success also demonstrates the relevance of Kurma's tech transfer approach that creates focused companies around breakthrough science that has been discovered and patented by the academic partners of the fund, » says Thierry Laugel, managing partner of Kurma Life Sciences Partners.