Sangamo will generate novel cell lines and vector systems for enhanced protein production as well as novel technology for rapid and robust creation of new production cell lines. "We are very pleased to be able to provide Pfizer, the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical company, with our zinc finger DNA binding protein (ZFP) technology gene activation technology," said Edward Lanphier, Sangamo's president and CEO. "ZFP transcription factors are used to regulate genes expressing protein pharmaceuticals and we can engineer zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) to facilitate the efficient generation of production cell lines with altered traits." Zinc finger DNA-binding proteins (ZFPs) are the dominant class of naturally occurring transcription factors in organisms from yeast to humans. Transcription factors, which are found in the nucleus of every cell, bind to DNA to regulate gene expression. Though there are many kinds of transcription factors, only zinc finger DNA-binding proteins are amenable to engineering and precise targeting to a particular gene or genes of interest.