British scientists have warned that Britain is falling behind China in the race to eliminate crop diseases after Beijing this month gave landmark approval for the country’s first edited wheat genome.
Rapid progress towards genome editing that gives wheat resistance to a common fungal infection called powdery mildew has been hailed by the scientific community as a “major step” towards improving food safety in the world’s largest producer and consumer of wheat.
Experts say the gene editing process, which differs from genetic modification in that it does not add foreign DNA, also promises significant environmental benefits as it will allow farmers to reduce agricultural chemicals.
The genome can be applied to different wheat varieties and is the result of a decade of research and safety checks by Suzhou-based biotechnology company Qi Biodesign and scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The scientific basis for the genome editing process was revealed in the peer-reviewed journal Nature in 2022; Here, researchers described how molecular breeding is a sustainable strategy to tackle the estimated 11-30 percent annual global loss in crop production due to plant diseases.
Kevin Zhao, co-founder of Qi Biodesign, said the firm has been reviewing safety with regulators for the past two years.
This shows that the country is “very interested in looking for more effective methods to grow better crops in the future for food security purposes,” Mr Zhao told the South China Morning Post.
“Now that we have approved this regulation from the ministry [of agriculture]”We can put this regulation on many different wheat varieties grown all over China and see how this regulation performs across different varieties.”
British experts have described gene editing as an “exciting” development for a crop that has been cultivated for more than 10,000 years; This crop, which is vital for global food security, has radically changed the diet and economy of human society.
The staple food has evolved through the 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 plant-derived energy intake globally.
Although the new technique has not yet been put to use in Chinese fields, the short time frame of the Chinese approval process has caused British scientists to question Britain and Europe’s more cumbersome bureaucracy governing the pioneering technique.
Prof, a crop scientist at Rothamsted Research and visiting professor at the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “I guess the lesson is to keep at it, the rest of the world is moving on quickly,” Nigel Halford said.
‘We are already behind’
Unlike genetic modification, which introduces foreign genes into a plant, gene editing alters existing genes to alter or improve its performance and is generally viewed as less risky because the process copies things that already occur in nature.
Gene editing uses special enzymes to cut DNA at specific points, and these changes are designed to be equivalent to changes that can be made using traditional plant breeding methods.
However, Prof. Halford said UK and European legislation had been slow to regulate the technology, hindering the farming industry’s ability to use it.
In the EU, a key market for British farmers, gene editing has long been considered alongside the more controversial issue of legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Efforts to regulate it separately are ongoing but are moving at a “glacial pace,” he said.
In the UK, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act came into force in 2023 as the legal basis for gene editing to strengthen food safety and reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture.
However, the Food Standards Agency is still developing a new authorization framework to regulate the use of precision-bred organisms in food and feed products.
The new law also applies only to England, creating logistical hurdles for farmers marketing genetically modified crops across the UK.
Prof. “No one is going to start doing this until they understand and are confident in the regulatory process,” Halford said.
“The UK government is talking about how we have the opportunity to lead in this technology. “We are already behind.”
Japan, which is highly resistant to GMOs, has already embraced gene editing, with crops such as tomatoes and sea bream on the market, he said.
“We have to catch it,” he said. “If you make it harder to regulate, it won’t happen. “Obviously you have to err on the side of safety, but your regulations need to be proportionate to the risk.”
For the scientific and agricultural communities, the global advantages of the technique are clear.
“There is a recognition worldwide that you need to move towards genetic control rather than chemical disease control in crop production. This is because there is obviously a large carbon footprint in the production of fungicides,” said Prof. Halford.
Gene editing is already being used around the world to create crops that can grow in harsh conditions to help them survive the effects of the climate crisis, including extreme heat and cold and natural disasters such as droughts and floods.
In February, researchers in Australia announced a new three-year project that will focus on developing heat-tolerant wheat genetics to help crops thrive in high-temperature conditions.
Scientists elsewhere are using gene-editing techniques to produce wheat resistant to viruses, bacteria and fungi, which could provide potential solutions to hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.
Crops that are more resistant to pests and diseases can make soils more fertile and provide food that is more nutritious and stays fresher longer as the global population continues to grow.
Gene editing has been used to increase the size of wheat, as well as rice, corn and soybeans, and could help crops such as bananas and coffee plants become more resilient to hazards.
China’s initiative to eliminate powdery mildew, a major fungal disease of wheat, could mean higher crop yields and reduced reliance on fungicides.
Head of the Sustainable Wheat Supply program at the John Innes Centre, Dr. Simon Griffiths has described gene editing as a “revolution”.
He added: “I can’t overstate how big of an impact this has made on what is possible for us.”
For China, which is a net importer of wheat despite being the world’s largest producer, scientific progress has been a major support in terms of food security.
He said it could also be a game changer in the UK.
“Net zero and the agricultural response to climate change in this country means we will have 26% less land to grow crops,” he said.
“We need to get more efficiency from the land we grow without harming the environment. And things like these gene edits are what you’ll need to do that.”
Dr Griffiths argued that the residue of past public backlash against GMOs was slowing scientific momentum.
“Gene editing is not GM, but I think people are just cautious. It’s really about politics and public opinion.”
But he suggested China’s latest decision could help shift the dial and encourage western governments to move faster.
“I guess they did us a favor. “This is just another step forward,” he said.
“The best part about this news is that if China is brave enough to do this, I hope everyone will see that the situation is good and that is a good sign.”
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