The Concept
4B Genetics is the first agricultural biotechnology company in Pakistan. It intends to benefit national agriculture by infusing it with locally produced and commercially modified crops that perform exceptionally in the field. To accomplish this mission, a well-equipped plant biotechnology laboratory was established and highly qualified manpower was hired who is working enthusiastically. With an aim to emphasize the UN’s SDG 12, we are wholly dedicated to this goal to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns in the agriculture and food sector.
Expertise
Plant
transformation
Confirmation of transgene integration
GMOs quantification through ELISA and qPCR
Development of varietal barcode through DNA fingerprinting
Construction of plant expression CRISPR-Cas9 vectors to target any gene of interest
Resistance Against
Invasive Pests
Finding ways to combat or discourage pests that may harm crops while also promoting beneficial insects like bees and other pollinators is the key to farmers managing insect life on their farms successfully. Through a variety of tactics, our pest control strategy focuses on the long-term control of pests and hence supports food safety and security.
Heat and Drought Tolerance
Heat and drought tolerance is a multigenic trait and its detrimental effects are severe on the whole plant at physical as well as physiological levels. After rigorous analysis and checks, our experts are developing heat-tolerant cotton that would be ideal for Pakistan’s tough summer temperature.
DNA
Fingerprinting
Crop varieties are essential to agricultural productivity, but maintaining, managing, and enhancing their germplasm is a difficult task. Crop varieties’ phenotypic plasticity makes morphological identification more time-consuming. Four Brothers established genome-wide SNP markers of their cotton Iines and currently using different analyses to develop DNA barcodes for variety identification.
CRISPR Crops
The CRISPR-Cas9 system offers cutting-edge novelty and opens new avenues to exploit the disease-susceptible genes and negative regulators of the immune system for crop protection. Four Brothers is engineering cotton plants with an impeccable CRISPR-Cas9 system to alter the genome engineering landscape in the agriculture industry. Crop varieties are pivotal for agricultural production and ownership, management, and improvement of their germplasm is a great challenge. Due to the phenotypic plasticity of crop varieties, morphological identification requires more time, and cost and descriptors are often compromised statistically. 4BG established genome-wide SNP markers of their cotton lines and currently using different analyses to develop DNA barcodes for variety identification.
Virus-Free
Potato Plants:
Efforts are in place to generate virus-free cultivars of potatoes using tissue culture techniques.
Major Achievements
Development of Pakistan’s first Hexa-gene whitefly and insecticide-resistant cotton. Development of Pakistan’s first triple-gene herbicide glyphosate and insecticide cotton, (KALGIN). Development of advanced triple-gene herbicide glufosinate and sucking-resistant cotton. Development of triple-gene pink-free cotton. Acquired patents for the triple gene technology by the intellectual property organization of Pakistan (!PO-Pakistan; Patent number 142468) in addition to 16 countries worldwide which include the USA, China, India, and other Central Asian States. 4B Genetics is among the single-digit companies in the world to acquire this patent technology.
The only ISO 17025-2017 Certified Biotechnology Lab with 07 GMO Guaranteed Patents
Development of Hexa-Gene
Whitefly Resistant Cotton
These genetically modified Hexa-gene cotton plants were transformed with 4B Genetics’ specific six genes that specially confer resistance against whitefly.
Pink-Free
Cotton
These genetically modified pink bollworm-free cotton plants were transformed with 4B Genetics-resistant genes. The high expression and additive effects of resistant genes make cotton more resistant to pink bollworms.
Triple-Gene Herbicide Glyphosate and Insecticide Cotton (KALGIN)
These genetically modified triple-gene cotton plants were transformed with 4B Genetics’ specific three genes namely Vip3A, Cry2Ab, and GTG. The synergistic effects of high toxin levels of both Vip3A and Cry2Ab genes make Kalgin cotton effective against spotted bollworms, American bollworms, and armyworms; while the GTG gene is resistant to broad-spectrum glyphosate herbicide.
Herbicide-Resistant Cotton
These genetically modified cotton plants were transformed with 4B-Genetics’ specific herbicide-resistant genes. The high expression level of herbicide-resistant genes makes cotton more resistant to glyphosate and glufosinate herbicides.
Patents Granted
- Kaigin triple-gene cotton (Patent No. 142468).
- Hatif-2 triple-gene cotton (Patent No. 143139).
- Hatif-3 triple-gene cotton (Patent No. 143138).
