Patents by Inventor Kimber Hardy

Kimber Hardy has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Production of a Vitamin C precursor using genetically modified organisms
    Patent number: 4945052
    Abstract: An enzyme for conversion of 2,5-diketo-D-gluconate (2,5-DKG) to 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KLG) and a genetically modified organism that expresses all the fermentation enzymes needed to convert glucose to 2-KLG (a precursor to ascorbic acid) using the new enzyme are described. Preferably, the organism is Erwinia citreus, or a mutated strain of Erwinia citreus, unable to use 2,5-DKG or 2-KLG as a sole carbon source, into which the gene for a 2,5-DKG reductase, produced by Corynebacterium sp., SHS 752001, has been inserted. The preferred transformed organism expresses the fermentation enzymes Erwinia citreus normally expresses for fermentation of glucose to 2,5-DKG and, in addition, an enzyme Corynebacterium sp. SHS 752001 expresses for fermentation of 2,5-DKG to 2-KLG.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1987
    Date of Patent: July 31, 1990
    Assignee: Biogen, Inc.
    Inventors: Kimber Hardy, Hendrick van de Pol, June Grindley, Mark A. Payton