FOR a botanist the question was intriguing: why are flowers not
incestuous? They all carry, close together, both male and female parts
yet they do not have an incestuous mating within the same flower.

The answer, discovered by an all-women group of plant scientists, led by
Adrienne Clarke, laureate professor of botany at the University of
Melbourne, has led to the formation of Hexima, a research company listed
on the ASX that now has confidential agreements with four of the six
global agribusiness groups in the world.

Out of that is coming genetically modified strains of cotton and corn
that the research team hopes will greatly reduce, if not remove, the
need to spray with dangerous and expensive poisonous chemicals to beat
back insect attack.

Hexima was formed at the University of Melbourne in 1998 by Professor
Clarke, Professor Marilyn Anderson (now at the school of biochemistry at
La Trobe University), Dr Robyn Heath and Dr Angela Atkinson. "This was a
girlie thing," says Professor Clarke with evident pride and
satisfaction.

Research is continuing under contracts with the University of Melbourne,
from which the original intellectual property portfolio was acquired,
and La Trobe University, financed by a small group of Melbourne
investors and grants from the Commonwealth and Queensland governments.

Cotton is big, but corn is bigger, especially now that so much of the
world crop is going into production of ethanol engine fuels. Hexima's
team of about 30 is working on its science with partner companies
overseas.

"We need to partner," said Professor Clarke, "because obviously we are
not going to be selling to the farmer. But we want to take the risk as
far down the track as we can, so we get a better share of the benefits
for our shareholders in getting the technology through to
commercialisation. We have got the genes, but we also need enabling
technologies and other bits of the equation."

The company listed last year and in the decade to then had spent about
$10 million of investors' money. Other substantial funding has come from
the Commonwealth and Queensland governments ? "incredibly important",
said Professor Clarke.

The key to the science is the now patented discovery of several
molecules in flowers that protect the female stigma from insect
predation and fungal infection.

"In flowers the male and female parts are so close together that
normally there might be an incestuous mating within the same flower, but
that does not happen," said Professor Clarke. "This is really important
for understanding evolution and the success of life on earth. If plants
? were allowed to breed with themselves there would have been inbreeding
depression and none would have survived."

www.checkbiotech.org