News CRISPR Cas
UK gives green light to CRIPSR-Cas trial for the first time
The Rothamsted Research institute will conduct a series of field trials with wheat whose genome has been edited. The institute has received permission for this from Defra, the Ministry of Agriculture of the UK. According to the institute, it will be the first field trial of CRISPR-Cas bred wheat in the UK and EU.
The wheat in the trial was processed to lower levels of the naturally occurring amino acid asparagine. To do this, the scientists switched off the gene responsible for the production of asparagine in the lab. The CRISPR-Cas wheat comes in the 5-year trial alongside wheat traditionally bred on asparagine. The aim is, among other things, to establish the differences in yield and quality in practice.
Healthier product
When baking and/or toasting bread, asparagine is converted into acrylamide. "Acrylamide has been a serious problem for the food industry since its discovery in foods in 2002," said Professor Nigel Halford in a commentary on the site of Rothamsted Research. "It causes cancer in rodents and is suspected to be carcinogenic in humans as well."
Gene editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas make targeted changes to a plant's genes. This change also takes place with traditional change. The big difference is that in gene editing the mutation is made in a targeted manner, while in traditional breeding this is due to chance. Unlike genetic modification, no genes are added or changed in a way that would be impossible in nature.
Prohibited under current law
In current European and English legislation, all new breeding techniques are equated with genetic modification, which is prohibited. There is a wide discussion going on whether this legislation is not too rigid and hinders the development of new varieties.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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