Qi Biodesign co-founder Kevin Zhao said the company has been working with regulators for the past two years to collect data and perform the safety checks necessary to obtain safety approval.
Getting this approval in such a “short time” was special, he said.
This is the first wheat genome editing approved by the Chinese government, as the country is “very interested in pursuing more effective means of breeding better crops in the future for food security purposes.” “This shows that there is,” Zhao said.
“Since this edit has been approved by the Ministry, [of agriculture]You can apply this edit to different wheat varieties grown across China and see how this edit works with different varieties. ”
07:58
Why is the Chinese government so concerned about food security?
Why is the Chinese government so concerned about food security?
The issuance of the first safety certificate for wheat editing was announced in a Department of Agriculture post on Wednesday, along with eight other genome editing or genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Wheat Edit's license covers all of China and is valid until May 2029, with further renewals to follow.
“Plant diseases cause 11-30% annual crop production losses around the world, threatening global food security. Molecular breeding is an effective and effective way to improve plant disease resistance. “This is a sustainable strategy,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
According to Zhao, powdery mildew is one of the top three diseases affecting wheat yields in China.
Genome editing is different from creating GMOs, which alter a plant's genetic material by inserting foreign DNA.
“This difference is why governments around the world are taking a more proactive stance.” [about genome editing]This process is similar to the natural mutation process that plants undergo when exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the sun, Zhao said.
The introduction of genetically modified crops around the world has been met with some resistance due to safety concerns, including in the Philippines.
Genome-edited crops have proven easier to sell to regulators than genetically modified organisms.Photo: Reuters
Last month, a local court expressed concern that there was no scientific consensus on the safety of golden rice, which has been modified to contain a vitamin A precursor using DNA from daffodils and bacteria. The permit granted in 2021 has been revoked.
Genome editing, performed using tools such as CRISPR/Cas9, involves making precise changes within an organism's own genetic material to achieve a desired mutation, without inserting foreign substances. Masu.
After the edits are made, the edit material is disassembled or released from the cell.
Disrupting the function of susceptibility (S) genes (genes used by pathogens to infect plants) is one strategy for creating plants that are resistant to diseases. Powdery mildew can be stopped by editing the mold resistance locus O (MLO).
However, the S gene is “involved in many important biological functions” and deletion of the S gene can result in undesirable growth penalties such as reduced crop height and yield. This could “limit its widespread use in agriculture,” the paper said.
However, the team was able to create an MLO edit that allows wheat to maintain “crop growth and yield while conferring strong powdery mildew resistance” even when grown in the field, the paper said. .
01:54
CRISPR/Cas9: A gene editing tool with promise and risk
CRISPR/Cas9: A gene editing tool with promise and risk
“We edited four different parts of wheat, and the combination of these four edits conferred resistance to the disease,” Zhao said.
“The fourth edit we made helped maintain and even increase the yield of some wheat varieties,” he said, based on the results of preliminary experiments.
Government approval will allow the team to explore partnerships with companies and breeders who own wheat varieties, insert edits to see how they grow in the field, and test commercial applications. .
Mr. Zhao said his company is initially looking for companies with the “most commercially useful” wheat varieties to partner with. He said the edits could be added to other crops susceptible to powdery mildew, such as strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers.
China is a “quite conservative country” when it comes to agricultural biotechnology, with the first GMO approvals for corn and soy only taking place a few years ago. Zhao said the first guidelines for submitting genome editing for approval were just released in 2022.
“Traditionally, whether it's GMOs or genome editing, most countries around the world have focused on feed crops, i.e. maize and soybean, and not food crops due to concerns that editing could be found. “We haven't touched on it much,” Zhao said, adding that it would be dangerous after approval.
The approval is a “huge step forward for China,” and Zhao said he hopes it will pave the way for future approvals for wheat and other crops.
The company is currently seeking approval for the edits in other countries that have guidelines for genome-edited crops, Zhao said.