The Company's initial focus is on the control of plant parasitic nematodes. Nematodes are one of the major agricultural pests in the world, causing significant damage to dozens of major crops. Current nematicides are environmentally dangerous, expensive, and difficult to use. Nematodes are also major parasites of humans, companion animals, and livestock.
Modern genomics allows a precise understanding of the essential functions of nematodes.
This understanding permits the design of pest-control strategies that precisely target unique aspects of the nematode's physiology. Divergence has initiated a research program to develop unique, environmentally safe anti-nematode compounds through application of genomic information from the pest and its host. Divergence will create value by identifying and functionally validating nematode-specific molecular target sequences. Target discovery will utilize the complete DNA sequence of the model nematode C. elegans as a platform and the parasitic nematode gene sequences currently being generated by Washington University's Genome Sequencing Center. Divergence is exploring commercial partnerships with existing companies to more rapidly commercialize products resulting from its research.