ICA Bremen, the international centre for cotton testing, research and quality training, has entered a partnership with Impetus Bioscience - a private company specialising in DNA analysis - to offer analytical tools for the identification of genetically modified cotton and the differentiation of cotton species.

ICA Bremen Managing Director, Kai Hughes said: “The traceability of cotton varieties in finished textiles is becoming increasingly important, with many retailers and labeling organisations looking for suitable and reliable analytical tools.

“Utilising the expertise of Impetus Bioscience, ICA Bremen can now test finished textile garments to identify whether they contain genetically modified cotton, as well as identifying different cotton species such as Pima / Gossypium Barbadense.

“This is an exciting partnership for ICA Bremen and expands our range of services to the wider global cotton community.”

Impetus Lab Manager, Dr. Hermann Rüggeberg said: "We are convinced that ICA Bremen is the perfect partner to propagate our advanced analytical methods worldwide. We are looking forward to working with ICA Bremen and we expect with this partnership to enter into other interesting projects in the future.”

About ICA Bremen

ICA Bremen is an 'international centre of excellence' for cotton testing, research and quality training. Operating from existing, state of the art laboratory facilities in Bremen, Germany the centre was officially launched in October 2011.

The centre combines the global reach of the International Cotton Association with the quality expertise of Bremer Baumwollboerse and the Bremen Fibre Institute (FIBRE). ICA Bremen’s services include; Laboratory certification, Laboratory testing, Quality arbitration, Round trials, Cotton grade standards, Research & development, Cotton classing & testing training and Consultancy.

ICA Bremen