Posted October 28, 2014
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Applied DNA Sciences has formed a commercial agreement with a textile manufacturer to purchase a SigNature T DNA mark in order to protect and authenticate extra long staple pima cotton. This agreement will enable the textile manufacturer and its large retail partners to assure quality and preserve the integrity of the textile supply chain, starting from the grower to the consumer.
The SigNature T commercial program involves the creation of a unique, SigNature T DNA marker that will be used to mark the customer’s annual demand of extra long staple pima cotton at the ginning stage. Once marked, the premium pima cotton fiber may be authenticated for textile identity along any node in the supply chain, from grower to ginner to spinner to manufacturer to distributor to retailer. The company calls this approach to managing textile identity in the supply chain “Fiber Forward™.”
Pima or extra long staple (ELS) cotton is a highly valued, luxuriously long fiber, representing about 5 percent of the overall U.S. cotton output (~$1.25-billion-per-year industry in the U.S.) Production of all types of cotton fiber is a $25 billion-per-year industry in the U.S., employing more than 200,000 people.
Once Pima cotton is marked following each step of the process, its textile identity will be tested, accumulating “provenance data” linking the original cotton fiber to finished product, preserving the authenticity of the product and the integrity of the supply chain. SigNature T DNA markers are robust, long-lasting and can’t be copied, Applied DNA said. APDN’s platform also includes a unique test for extra long staple pima cotton identity called fiberTyping®, and can also include a cloud-based track and trace system called digitalDNA®.
“The kind of value that comes from a trusted, traceable and transparent supply chain is immeasurable, and we know consumers respond well to brands they trust, and even more to products they know will wear and launder well,” MeiLin Wan, executive director for Apparel and Textiles, Applied DNA Sciences. “Every moment of our daily lives involves a textile – from the bed sheets you woke up in, to the wrinkle-free cotton oxford shirt you wear with that wool suit, to the upholstered fabric in the car you drove to work in, to the carpet in your office.”
Source: Applied DNA Sciences
Applied DNA Sciences inks deal with textile maker
