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YOU COULD BE EATING CRISPR FOOD IN FIVE YEARS

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YOU COULD BE EATING CRISPR FOOD IN FIVE YEARS

By Molly Fosco

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WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

Because growing good produce is getting harder and harder every year. 

By Molly Fosco

March 30, 2018

Imagine walking into the grocery store to see shelves lined with bright yellow
corn, juicy red tomatoes and hunks of watermelon so vibrantly pink and green
they’re practically in Technicolor. And the flavor is just as wonderful: crisp
and juicy as if they’re straight from the farmers market. But these delicious
fruits and veggies actually came from a large-scale farming operation delivering
to stores across the country. They’ve had their genes edited using CRISPR
technology to make them more nutritious and better tasting. This is the vision
of biotech scientists across the world using CRISPR to edit the genes of crops
and livestock right now.

That dream may not be too far off. CRISPR, which works by finding and then
replacing, editing or deleting a genetic sequence inside an organism, is
currently being tested in agricultural products in several countries, including
the U.S., U.K. and Spain, among others. DuPont Pioneer is developing a strain of
CRISPR-edited corn that could be on the market in five years. U.K. livestock
company Genus Breeding is using CRISPR in animal embryos to breed healthier pigs
and cows at a faster pace. Scientists at the Institute for Sustainable
Agriculture in Spain recently used CRISPR to edit wheat so that it’s safe for
people with celiac disease. Berkeley, California, startup Caribou Biosciences,
the first company to commercialize CRISPR technology, is working directly with
Genus and DuPont to get edited crops and meat on store shelves faster.

> I think this technology can help produce better food that’s safer for people
> by preventing allergies.
> 
> Francisco Barro Losado, researcher

Not everyone is enthusiastic about that prospect. Staunch anti-GMO advocates
don’t know what to make of CRISPR-edited food yet, but they’re not so sure they
want it on their plates. The technology isn’t waiting, though. Gene editing
plants and livestock with CRISPR has picked up speed as the technology has
recently become less complicated and more efficient.

“CRISPR-Cas9 [a form of the technology that relies on the Cas9 protein] is much
easier to use than historical technologies and is therefore being rapidly
adopted,” says Rachel Haurwitz, CEO of Caribou Biosciences.

 

Previous methods of gene editing, most commonly zinc-finger nucleases and TALEN,
are similar to CRISPR but are more complex, time-consuming and expensive. Robert
Henry, director of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
in Australia, says that CRISPR and other agricultural genetics will help humans
survive sustainably. “The world population doubled in the second half of the
last century, but we more than doubled food production,” says Henry, and
humanity did it “substantially by genetics.” As the global population continues
to rise, Henry is confident we’ll ramp up food production again, “and we’ll do
it by two means: genetics and management.”



DuPont shares Henry’s belief and has set out to develop a disease- and
drought-resistant type of waxy corn that is starchier than traditional corn,
making it ideal for use in food stabilizers, adhesives and glue, in addition to
food products. Pending regulation, DuPont plans to have commercial seeds ready
for planting in the U.S. as soon as 2019. In April 2016, the USDA Biotechnology
Regulatory Services concluded that DuPont’s CRISPR-edited waxy corn does not
fall within its area of authority, which satisfied Roger Theisen, business
manager of DuPont’s specialty corn program. “[We] believe that regulatory
oversight should focus on the characteristics of the product — not the process
by which it is created,” Theisen says.

Genus Breeding in the U.K. is one of very few companies currently testing CRISPR
in pig and cow embryos to improve meat production and quality. Haurwitz’s
company, Caribou, holds a patent to CRISPR technology that they license to both
Genus and DuPont. “What [Genus] wants to do is actually use gene editing in
embryos of these animals to make really specific changes to one gene at a time,”
says Haurwitz. Scientists from both organizations are working closely to
determine the best way to do this and are asking, “How do we analyze the data
once,” Haurwitz says. Genus could not be reached for comment on how long it
believes it will take to get CRISPR-edited meat on the market, but Haurwitz is
hopeful it could be within five years.

Increasing the quantity and quality of our food isn’t the only reason scientists
are using CRISPR in agriculture. Last year, researchers in Spain successfully
removed 35 of 45 genes in the specific wheat protein that causes an adverse
immune reaction in people with celiac. At least 3 million Americans currently
suffer from the gluten intolerance, according to the University of Chicago. “I
think this technology can help produce better food that’s safer for people by
preventing allergies,” Francisco Barro Losado, one of the researchers, tells
OZY. A plant scientist at the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture in Córdoba,
Spain, Losado also believes CRISPR has the potential to increase food supply in
drought-stricken nations. “If you think about many countries in Africa where the
drought is a very serious problem, this technology can develop resistant crops
and [allow] people there to produce their own food,” he says.

Some anti-GMO advocates aren’t so thrilled. “New genetic engineering techniques
need a whole different battery of evaluation,” says Lawrence Woodward, director
of Beyond GM in London. “We simply do not know enough about the off-target
effects.” Genetic modification of crops, his organization argues, is simply
unnecessary and at this moment, Woodward sees no difference between CRISPR and
other forms of genetic modification in plants and animals. “All of these
techniques, conceptually, are genetic engineering,” he says. Convincing
organizations like Woodward’s remains a challenge for CRISPR proponents.  

Still, the scientists developing CRISPR for agriculture hope their work will
bring better food to more people. “I have a dream that in five to 10 years, a
person could go to the grocery store and purchase vegetables or fruit that have
been developed using CRISPR technology,” says Haurwitz. DuPont believes CRISPR
will ultimately be the agricultural solution the world needs. “Plants are under
constant stress from climate change, drought and disease,” Theisen says. “This
coupled with rapid population growth and changing diets requires agricultural
innovation to keep pace.”  

 * Molly Fosco, Reporter Follow Molly Fosco on Twitter Contact Molly Fosco


March 30, 2018

TOPICS

 * Agriculture
 * As Heard on iHeart Radio
 * Bioengineering
 * EUROPE
 * Food Policy
 * Genetics
 * SCIENCE
 * Scientists
 * Spain
 * United Kingdom
 * United States



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