VG Energy Chief Scientist Awarded $200,000 AgriLife Grant to Study
Lipid Secretion
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.,
Aug. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- VG
Energy, an agricultural biotech company and wholly owned subsidiary
of publicly traded VG Life Sciences Inc. (VGLS), announces today a
$200,000 competitive grant from the
Texas A&M AgriLife Research BioEnergy Initiatives Program for
testing oil secretion technology.
The Texas A&M AgriLife Research Bioenergy Initiatives
Program awarded the $200,000 grant to
Dr. Marty Dickman, Chief Scientist
at VG Energy, and Dr. Paul de
Figueiredo, Associate Professor of the Department of Plant
Pathology and Microbiology at Texas A&M
University for the proposal titled A Universal Small
Molecule System for the Non-lytic Secretion of Oils from Living
Cells.
The grant will support collaborative efforts to optimize
non-lytic secretion of oils by using small molecule metabolic
disrupting agents that are part of the VG Energy protected patents.
Additionally this research will aim towards identifying the
molecular targets of the small molecules and the optimum conditions
for lipid secretion. The species used in these studies will reflect
strains used in production today. The funds will be dispersed over
two years.
Extraction of oils from oil-producing cells has been a major
problem for biofuel and nutraceutical producers. The results of
this research may allow algae producers to reduce extraction costs,
which account for between 50-67% of their net production costs. If
viable, the technology would be applied on algae, yeast, and other
plant cells utilized in the nutraceutical and biofuel markets.
In related news, VG Energy is halfway through field trials in
South Dakota to measure the effect
of its patented LipidMax compound in corn oil production. The
twelve 2,000 ft2 plots will be harvested in
October. For more information see VG Life Sciences, Inc.'s
May 23, 2013 press release.
"This marks the second major grant our Chief Scientists have
received in the past month and shows the confidence in our research
and patented technologies." says John
Tynan, Interim President and CEO of VG Life Sciences. Two
weeks ago Dr. M. Karen Newell Rogers
and Dr. Brett Mitchell, both
professors at Texas A&M, jointly
received a $140,000 grant from the
American Heart Association to study the application of the
company's Targeted Peptide Technology as it relates to
preeclampsia.
About VG Energy
VG Energy, Inc. is an agricultural biotech company and
holds the exclusive worldwide license to the Metabolic Disruption
Technology (MDT) patent rights for use in the increase of
production of various oils from algae, plants and seeds. VG
Energy's pivotal discoveries could allow the agricultural industry
to increase production yields. For more information, please visit
www.vgenergy.net or www.VGLifeSciences.com.
About VG Life Sciences, Inc.
Santa Barbara,
California-based VG Life Sciences, Inc., a publically traded
company (VGLS), is a biotechnology company focused on delivering
treatments for patients suffering from autoimmune and chronic
inflammatory disorders. VG Life Sciences, Inc. controls over 50 US
and international patents and pending patents protecting its
exclusive biotech platform technologies. For more information and
upcoming events, visit www.vglifesciences.com or find VG Life
Sciences, Inc. on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Safe Harbor Statement and Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties associated with financial
projections, milestone timelines, clinical development, regulatory
approvals and other risks described by VG Life Sciences from time
to time in its periodic reports. None of VG Life Sciences' drug
compounds are approved by the US FDA or by any comparable
regulatory agencies elsewhere in the world. Therefore, there can be
no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this
release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant
uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included
herein, the forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a
representation by VG Life Sciences or any other person that the
objectives and plans of VG Life Sciences will be achieved.
CONTACT:
Alexandria Sumner, Corporate
Communications
VG Life Sciences, Inc.
Phone: (805) 679-6763
Email: ASumner@vglifesciences.com
SOURCE VG Life Sciences, Inc.