Anyone who’s attended a GrowNextGen workshop has heard about the latest research in biotechnology related to agriculture. Recent developments in seed research have resulted in more tolerant seeds, a need for inputs, and overall greater sustainability.
This article from Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News talks about how CRISPR applications in ag biotech are improving human health and the environment.
Since its introduction in 2012, CRISPR-based genetic engineering technology has transformed biotechnology and opened new possibilities in biomedicine. Currently, CRISPR is driving development in yet another domain—agriculture. Although CRISPR has been slower to realize agricultural applications than biotechnology and biomedical applications, it is ready to help us cope with an array of agricultural challenges that includes an expanding population, a rapidly warming climate, and a shrinking supply of arable land.
Nearly a decade after Charpentier and Doudna’s landmark study demonstrating that CRISPR systems could be programmed for targeted DNA cleavage in vitro (Jinek et al. Science 2012; 337(6096), 816–821), scientists have started to make good use of CRISPR systems in agricultural biotechnology (agbiotech). In fact, the first genome edited agricultural product has already hit the market in Japan. This product is a tomato called the Sicilian Rouge High GABA. It was engineered by Sanatech Seed, and it is meant to help consumers reduce their blood pressure. If this product does well, it may encourage other agbiotech companies to ramp up their own CRISPR genome editing programs.
CRISPR has both practical and regulatory advantages over traditional plant breeding and genetic modification methods. Consequently, CRISPR is looking increasingly attractive to agbiotech companies that hope to engineer products that can improve human health and the environment. (more)[https://www.genengnews.com/topics/genome-editing/crispr-sows-seeds-of-change-in-agricultural-biotechnology/]
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