by British scientists have warned that the UK is falling behind China in the race to eradicate crop diseases after Beijing granted milestone approval this month for the country’s first ever wheat genome edited.
The scientific community has hailed the rapid progress of genome editing, which gives wheat resistance to a common fungal infection called powdery mildew.
Experts say the gene editing process, which differs from genetic modification because it does not introduce foreign DNA, has significant environmental benefits, as it would allow farmers to cut back on agrochemicals.
The genome can be applied to different types of wheat and is the result of ten years of research and safety checks by Suzhou-based biotechnology company Qi Biodesign and scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The scientific basis of the genome editing process appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Nature in 2022, when researchers explained how molecular breeding was a sustainable strategy to deal with an estimated 11-30 percent annual global loss in crop production through plant disease.
Kevin Zhao, co-founder of Qi Biodesign, said the firm had been in safety review with regulators for the past two years.
It shows that the country is “very interested in pursuing more efficient ways to breed better crops in the future for food security purposes”, Mr Zhao told the South China Morning Post.
“Now that this arrangement has been approved by our ministry [of agriculture]we can put this array into many varieties of wheat grown across China and see how this array performs across different varieties.”
British experts have described the gene array as an “exciting” development for a crop that has been cultivated for more than 10,000 years, which has revolutionized the diet and economy of human society and is vital to global food security.
The food staple has evolved through a process of natural selection, domestication and, in recent years, genetic engineering to improve its yield and quality. Today it is one of six crops that account for more than 75 percent of total plant-derived energy intake worldwide.
Although the new technique has yet to be implemented in Chinese fields, the short time frame of China’s approval process has left British scientists questioning the UK and Europe’s stricter bureaucracy governing the cutting-edge technique.
“I think the lesson is, the rest of the world is moving on quickly,” said Professor Nigel Halford, senior scientist at Rothamsted Research and visiting professor at the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
‘We are already behind’
Unlike genetic modification, which introduces foreign genes into a plant, gene editing alters existing genes to change or improve their function and is generally seen as less risky because the process replicates what is already there. already exists in nature.
Gene editing uses specialized enzymes to cut DNA at specific points and these changes are designed to be equivalent to those that could be made using traditional plant breeding methods.
However, UK and European legislation has been slow to regulate the technology, which has hindered the agricultural industry’s ability to use it, Professor Halford said.
In the EU, an important market for British farmers, gene editing has long been juxtaposed with legislation on the more controversial issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Efforts to control it separately were underway but moving at a “glacial pace”, he said.
In England, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act came into force in 2023 as a legal basis for gene editing to boost food security and reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides in farming.
However, the Food Standards Agency is still developing a new authorization framework to regulate the use of refined organics in food and feed products.
The new law also only applies to England, creating logistical barriers for farmers marketing gene-edited products across the UK.
“No one will start doing it until they understand and are confident in the regulatory process,” Professor Halford said.
“The UK government talks about the opportunity for us to take the lead in this technology. We are already behind.”
Japan, which has been strongly opposed to GMOs, had already embraced gene editing and products including tomatoes and sea bream were on the market, he said.
“We have to catch up,” he said. “If you make the regulations difficult it won’t happen. Of course, you have to err on the side of safety, but your regulations have to be proportionate to the risk.”
For the scientific and agricultural communities, the global benefits of the technique are clear.
“It is recognized worldwide that you have to move to genetic rather than chemical disease control in crop production. The reason is that manufacturing fungicides clearly has a large carbon footprint,” said Professor Halford.
Gene editing is also already being used around the world to create crops that can grow in harsh conditions, which would help them survive the impact of the climate crisis, including extremes of heat and cold and natural disasters such as drought and floods.
In February, researchers in Australia announced a new three-year project to focus on the development of resistant wheat genetics, to help the crop thrive in high temperature conditions.
Scientists elsewhere are using gene editing techniques to create virus, bacterial and fungal resistant wheat that could provide potential solutions to hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.
Crops that are more resistant to pests and diseases could make the land more productive as the world’s population continues to grow, providing food that is more nutritious and stays fresh longer.
Apart from wheat, gene editing has been used to increase the size of rice, maize and soybeans and may help crops such as bananas and coffee plants to be more resilient to hazards.
China’s effort to eradicate powdery mildew, a major fungal disease of wheat, could mean higher crop yields and reduced reliance on fungicides.
Dr Simon Griffiths, head of the Delivering Sustainable Wheat program at the John Innes Centre, described gene editing as a “revolution”.
He said: “I can hardly exaggerate the impact he has had on what we are able to do.”
For China, a net importer of wheat, although also the world’s largest producer, scientific progress has been a major boost to food security.
In the UK, it could be a gamechanger too, he said.
“In this country the response to climate change in terms of net zero and agriculture means we will have 26% less land to grow crops,” he said.
“We need to get more out of the land we grow without harming the environment. And things like these gene changes are what you need to do that.”
Dr Griffiths argued that the historic public backlash against GMOs was slowing scientific momentum.
“Gene edit is not a GM but I think people are careful… It’s really about politics and public opinion.”
However, China’s recent decision could help shift the dial and encourage western governments to move faster, he suggested.
“In my opinion they have done us a favour. It’s just one more step forward,” he said.
“The best thing about this news is that if China is brave enough to do this then hopefully everyone sees that it’s okay and that’s a good sign.”
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