San Diego, California, USA
June 20, 2016
Cibus, a leader of agricultural non-transgenic breeding and precision gene editing, continues its strong R&D growth with the promotions of Greg Gocal to Chief Scientific Officer and Jim Radtke to Senior Vice President of Product Development.
In these new positions, Gocal and Radtke continue to revolutionize the advancement of the Cibus product pipeline. Their critical roles in the advancement of the Rapid Trait Development System (RTDSTM), Cibus’ advanced non-transgenic breeding technology, have positioned Cibus to launch at least four crops with novel traits over the next three to five years. Some of these crops will have the first-ever non-transgenic stacked traits.
Since joining Cibus’ founding team in 2001, Dr. Gocal has been crucial to the development of the company’s proprietary technologies. He continues to chaperone and expand the Cibus company mission, and is well known internationally for a scientific rigor that consistently leads to excellent results. As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Gocal sets Cibus’ strategic direction and is responsible for delivering a growing pipeline of projects from laboratory to marketplace. His role encompasses envisioning and implementing strategies for Cibus’ research division, while ensuring that collaborations and partnerships are aligned with overall objectives.
“For 15 years Greg has been the visionary at the center of our activities here at Cibus,” said Peter Beetham, President and Chief Executive Officer. “He has a successful track record in the strategic planning and delivery of new discoveries, products and inventions. His natural ability to lead an extensive research and development team at Cibus has led to the creation of new technologies. We look forward to his continued success, as this will lay the foundation for the current pivot and definition of the new field of non-transgenic trait development.”
Dr. Radtke, who assumes the role of Senior Vice President of Product Development, heads all field-related activities for Cibus, including breeding, testing and development collaborations. He is charged with coordinating all field and greenhouse testing for plants with enhanced traits, as well as developing efficient strategies to minimize time from trait conversion to commercialization. In his new role, Radtke ensures greater efficiencies and effectiveness for Cibus’ agricultural division, while managing both parent seed and commercial seed production of Cibus’ SU Canola product.
“These promotions are an important recognition of Greg and Jim as leaders in the technological shift in agriculture from the era of transgenic traits to the modern era of non-transgenic breeding using precision gene editing and advanced crop development technology,” noted Cibus Chairman Rory Riggs. “Together, the leadership of these areas by Greg and Jim has been instrumental in achieving Cibus’ position as an industry frontrunner.”
“The dynamics of this new, multi-faceted management team have an enormous impact on the overall success and efficiency of Cibus’ future direction,” Beetham continued. “With Jim’s demonstrated product development techniques and Greg’s ability to lead across multiple divisions, Cibus continues to deliver innovative, high-quality products to the agricultural community.”
RTDSTM covers many important technological breakthroughs in several areas developed by Cibus over the last decade, including key aspects of cell biology; precision gene editing; advanced molecular screening; advanced breeding; and crop development technologies. These technological breakthroughs produce precise and predictable results with beneficial traits that are indistinguishable from those developed through traditional plant breeding, but with faster results.
Gocal will speak at the Fourth Plant Genomics Congress: USA in Philadelphia Sept. 12-13. For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Shawna McGregor at 917-971-7852 or shawna@rosengrouppr.com.
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