{"id":991,"date":"2017-12-19T17:06:34","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T09:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/?p=991"},"modified":"2017-12-19T17:06:34","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T09:06:34","slug":"gene-editing-will-boost-crop-yields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2017\/12\/19\/gene-editing-will-boost-crop-yields\/","title":{"rendered":"How gene editing will boost crop yields"},"content":{"rendered":"
Keywords:\u00a0Gene editing, Crop yields, GMO<\/div>\n
On the surface, a light switch and gene editing have as much in common as a linebacker does with a ballerina.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Dig a bit deeper, though. \u201cIn a very simple way, the main application of gene editing is like flipping a light switch on and off,\u201d says Federico Tripodi, chief executive officer of Calyxt, a New Brighton, Minnesota, agricultural technology firm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Gene editing is a group of technologies used to turn on or off or alter material at specific locations in a crop\u2019s genome (an organism\u2019s genetic material). Want to rid a crop of a disease? Flick off a switch. Want to unlock a yield-enhancing characteristic? Flick on a switch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Scientists see this technology as transformational, akin to when genetically modified corn and soybeans hit the market in the 1990s. It doesn\u2019t carry the baggage of genetically modified organism (GMO) technology, either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWith GMOs, we introduce a foreign material into the plant,<\/strong>\u201d says Adrian Percy, global head of research and development for Bayer Crop Science. \u201cWith gene editing, we make changes to the existing genome, rather than with foreign genetic material<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Gene editing may be a more palatable technology for consumers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWhen we talk about inserting nonnative genes, consumers get apprehensive,\u201d says Richard Wilkins, a Greenwood, Delaware, farmer and chairman of the American Soybean Association. \u201cThey don\u2019t have as much apprehension about changing and editing existing genes in a plant.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Farmers quickly gleaned agronomic benefits from GMO technology. Consumers? Not so much. Gene editing could change that, since it\u2019s keying consumer-friendly products that nix trans fats, boost complex carbohydrates and fiber, and eliminate food allergies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIf this technology helps people live a better life, I think we can turn it (consumer acceptance) in the right direction,\u201d says Chip Bowling, a Newburg, Maryland, farmer and past president of the National Corn Growers Association.<\/p>\n
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\nHOW IT WORKS<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
An organism\u2019s genetic information (whether it be plant, animal, or human) is encoded by DNA, says Brad Fabbri, chief science officer for TechAccel, a Shawnee Mission, Kansas, agricultural venture and technology development firm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A strand of DNA contains four nucleotide bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. (Also known as letters, these bases are referred to as A, C, G, and T.) These letters and their order actually spell out an organism\u2019s genetic code. Changing letter order can alter this code, says Fabbri.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
These changes have occurred naturally for eons through a process called mutagenesis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIt can happen randomly,\u201d says Fabbri. \u201cWalking around the beach and being hit by cosmic rays can change DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Plant breeders also have used mutagenesis to spur changes in plant varieties. That often takes years, though. \u201cWith CRISPR-Cas (a gene-editing technology), the time can be cut down to six months, says Dean Bushey, Bayer Crop Science global regulatory manager for research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Gene editing eliminates the randomness and imprecision that sometimes results when a transgenic technology is used to insert a trait in the genome. The accuracy incurred by gene editing vs. GMO technology is akin to that of a high-powered rifle over a shotgun.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the differentiators of genetic technology (compared with GMO technology) is the amount of specificity we can achieve,\u201d says Tripodi. \u201cWe identify a genetic sequence only involved with that gene and not the rest of the genome. To get sulfonylurea (herbicide<\/a> ) resistance in canola, we have made two- to three-letter changes in the codes for that gene.\u201d
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Typically, genetically modified products take 13 years and around $130 million to commercialize, adds Tripodi.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe can develop products (with gene editing) in half the time,\u201d he says.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nPRECISE CUTS<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
Scientists can do this using various tools that slice, dice, and edit the plant\u2019s genome. They include:<\/p>\n