British scientists have used gene editing technology to create a tomato soup containing as much vitamin D as two eggs or a serving of tuna.
The development comes in the same week, when the government will propose a change in the law that will facilitate the development and sale of genetically modified crops.
Scientists at the John Ines Center in Norwich created the tomato by excluding one of its genes.
Tomatoes naturally produce much of the chemical precursor of vitamin D, but plants typically use it to produce other biochemicals they need.
By deleting the gene that carries out this chemistry in the plant, the researchers increased the levels of the vitamin D precursor. Ordinary sunlight falling on leaves and fruits then converts the chemical into vitamin D3.
“Forty percent of Europeans are deficient in vitamin D, as are one billion people worldwide,” said Professor Katie Martin, who led the study, published today in the journal Nature Plants.
“Tomatoes can be developed as a plant-resistant source of vitamin D3,” she said.
Gene editing (GE) is radically different from traditional genetic modification or GM technology. Most GM products contain a synthetic gene or a gene from another organism inserted into the plant or animal of interest.
Insect-resistant cotton and soybeans, for example, which are widely grown around the world, contain a gene originally found in bacteria.
Gene editing, on the other hand, alters the characteristics of an animal or plant by deleting, exchanging, or repeating genes that are already present in the body’s genetic code.
Currently, UK legislation – copied from European – does not distinguish between GM and GE and makes it virtually impossible to place genetically modified products on the market.
On Wednesday, the government introduced the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act, which aims to massively limit regulations on gene editing. The aim is to reduce the time required to place a genetically modified product on the market from year to month.
Central to the change in the law is the distinction between GM and GE. He argues that changes caused by gene editing could, in theory, be introduced through conventional breeding techniques.
Developers will have to prove that their product could have been created “naturally”. Existing restrictions on GM technologies will remain as they are.
Initially, the changes will apply only to plants and will be extended only to genetically modified animals, once potential animal welfare issues have been addressed.
Many environmental groups still oppose gene editing, arguing that because it involves the initial step of inserting foreign DNA into the plant to perform the editing (then removing it again), it is by no means “natural.” “.
The change in the law opens the door to increasingly invasive steps, said Pat Thomas, director of Beyond GM.
She said: “It is completely misleading that editing genes does not involve inserting foreign genes.
“In fact, gene editing is a set of technologies that range from simple cutting to complex insertion of foreign genes. And the traits that really excite scientists, things like disease resistance and drought resistance, just can’t be achieved without these complex technological interventions. “
This is an upcoming challenge for conservationists. Conventional agriculture has a major negative impact on the environment. In theory, gene editing can help solve these problems.
Engineering crops to counteract diseases or pests could have great benefits for the environment and biodiversity by reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Tolerance to drought and heat can improve crop yields as our climate changes.
But there is also a challenge for scientists and biotechnologists. The genetic engineering products introduced so far (recognized by the GM variety) have increased yields and led to a reduction in the amount of pesticides used. But the impact of agriculture on deforestation and water use continues to increase.
The industry will need to convince consumers that the benefits extend to all of us, not just to the marketing or cultivation of new genetically modified products.
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