Some of the plants and products they developed included vine sweet mini peppers, the Fish tomato and Y1 tobacco.
DNA Plant Technology was founded in 1981 by Dr. William R. Sharp and Dr. David A. Evans, in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, "to develop tastier, value-added plant-based products for industrial and consumer markets" using "advanced plant-breeding techniques, tissue-culture methods and molecular biology in developing premium food products and improving agricultural raw materials.
[3] In 1993, DNAP purchased the Freshworld premium fruit and vegetable brand from Du Pont for a mixture of shares, cash and intellectual rights valued at over $30 million.
[6][7][8] The company became a wholly owned subsidiary of DNAP Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: DNAPD) of which it retained a 30% equity stake.
ELM was a company based in Monterrey, Mexico that operated in three fields: cigarettes (where it held 53% of the Mexican market), vegetable seeds, and packaging.
[18] In the 1990s, the FDA targeted DNA Plant Technology, charging that it had illegally smuggled Y1 Tobacco seeds out of the United States.