TOWARD BETTER
Food Plants By G.B. Crawford, Director of Public Relations
Traditional plant breeding can achieve a desired result, but the process may take many years of trial and error to complete and nurture unwelcome traits. A series of scientific breakthroughs that began in the 1990s has created the opportunity to use a new approach. Researchers discovered that nucleases (enzymes) could remove specific sections of
CRISPR Within the past five years, a new editing technology known as CRISPR has given researchers a more precise way to target a particular gene. (CRISPR is an acronym for an appallingly genetic material within a plant. long description of certain DNA They subsequently found that they sequences: clustered regularly could activate the expression of interspaced short palindromic certain genes. repeats). It is easier and cheaper to As currently applied, the tool use than other editing techniques. relies upon the plant’s natural For farmers, editing promises biology to enhance a preferred increased harvest volumes on the trait without introducing material same acreage at less cost. New from another organism – much plant varieties can reduce the use like traditional breeding. of water and fertilizer as well as Genetic engineering of a plant losses due to pests and disease. can require more than a decade Consumers can benefit from to develop and exact a price tag of larger crop yields with less above $100 million. By contrast, production costs by boosting the researchers note, gene editing costs abundance of nutritious foods and a fraction of that figure and may be moderating their retail prices. completed much more quickly.
This waxy corn developed by Corteva Agriscience has been edited with CRISPR technology.
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FLORIDAGRICULTURE | APRIL/MAY 2019
(PHOTO COURTESY OF CORTEVA)
SINCE THE DAWN OF AGRICULTURE human societies have sought improvements in food plants. Over time this quest has involved such objectives as a sweeter fruit or better resistance to a pest.
