On the trail of science

Hong Wang’s work needs a sensitive touch. “Good contacts and an understanding of the culture are a must,” he says with a smile. Hong joined KWS in Einbeck almost 28 years ago and has been with the Scouting and Licensing Team since 2016. His mission is to seek out worthwhile collaborations that will take our research forward or significantly speed up processes by allowing us to draw on existing knowledge.

The Scouting Team has a geographical and subject-specific division of tasks: Hong, a doctor of molecular biology, is responsible for Asia (China, Japan, Korea and India) and Australia, while specializing in fungal and general disease resistance as well as general technologies. Hong knows many of China’s leading scientists personally through his work there. He travels there several times a year to nurture his network and learn more about current research – as he did in May together with Stefan Meldau and Hongwu Jia, both of whom work on trait development using genome editing.

“I always keep up-to-date with the latest publications,” says Hong. “When I discover interesting work, I contact the person responsible or ask friends for an introduction.” That’s how Hong, Stefan and Hongwu had very fruitful conversations with scientists at several leading research institutions during their trip. “China is currently leading the way when it comes to publications in the field of genome editing in plants,” says Stefan. “In the SP35, we’ve defined that KWS’ aim is to position itself as a leading genome editing-based trait developer in Europe. That’s why it’s extremely important for us to keep up to speed with the latest research and connect to leading technology developers.”

Success: New licensing agreement

With this background, Hong scouts companies and academics in China that fit particularly well with our goals: The KWS team has visited three cities in China, where leading universities and companies are located. “Thanks to Hong’s good contacts and personal relationships with the researchers in China, we were able to hold really productive and open discussions,” says Stefan. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible to discuss things the way we did. We identified 18 opportunities for collaboration on specific traits alone during the trip.” And the first results are already in: the on-site visit has led to a global licensing agreement with the biotechnology company Shunfeng Bio.

In the past, Hong’s connections have already translated into good partnerships, such as collaboration with scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. With changes to EU regulations on genome editing on the horizon, now is the ideal time for us to take action or rethink existing collaborations. For example, the costs for licensing certain traits are significantly lower in China than in the U.S.

However, personal contacts can also be useful in recruiting leading scientists as advisors to KWS. Jijie Chai, a former professor at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, visited Einbeck in August after Stefan and Hong had already been in contact with him in China. “The work done by Hong and the Scouting and Licensing Team is really important,” says Stefan. “It not only lets us engage in direct dialogue, but also enables us to advance our own product development goals far more quickly.” The next trip is already planned.