Also: GMO crops, Bt crops, Golden Rice, CRISPR crops, transgenic plants
Crops changed by adding genes (transgenic) or editing their own genes (e.g. CRISPR). Examples include Bt insect-resistant crops, vitamin-A Golden Rice and CRISPR-edited wheat. All have public regulatory histories. Descriptive only.
Readiness: lab lab studies · prototype demonstrated objects · commercial products or buildings in real use · review summaries of other studies.
Jinek and colleagues showed Cas9 can be programmed with guide RNA to cut chosen DNA; Charpentier and Doudna won the 2020 Nobel Prize.
As reported in: Jinek, Chylinski, Fonfara et al. (2012). A Programmable Dual-RNA–Guided DNA Endonuclease in Adaptive Bacterial Immunity. Science. doi:10.1126/science.1225829
Vaeck and colleagues put a Bacillus thuringiensis toxin gene into tobacco, protecting plants from caterpillars.
Built / tested: Bt tobacco
As reported in: Vaeck, Reynaerts, Höfte et al. (1987). Transgenic plants protected from insect attack. Nature. doi:10.1038/328033a0
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Tabashnik, Brévault and Carrière reviewed how pests evolved resistance across the first billion acres of Bt crops.
As reported in: Tabashnik, Brévault, Carrière (2013). Insect resistance to Bt crops: lessons from the first billion acres. Nature Biotechnology. doi:10.1038/nbt.2597
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Ye and colleagues engineered the provitamin A (beta-carotene) pathway into rice grain, creating Golden Rice.
Built / tested: Golden Rice
As reported in: Ye, Al-Babili, Klöti et al. (2000). Engineering the Provitamin A (β-Carotene) Biosynthetic Pathway into (Carotenoid-Free) Rice Endosperm. Science. doi:10.1126/science.287.5451.303
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Paine and colleagues greatly increased provitamin A in Golden Rice using a maize gene.
Built / tested: Golden Rice 2
As reported in: Paine, Shipton, Chaggar et al. (2005). Improving the nutritional value of Golden Rice through increased pro-vitamin A content. Nature Biotechnology. doi:10.1038/nbt1082
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Shan and colleagues showed targeted genome modification of rice and wheat using CRISPR-Cas.
Built / tested: edited rice and wheat
As reported in: Shan, Wang, Li et al. (2013). Targeted genome modification of crop plants using a CRISPR-Cas system. Nature Biotechnology. doi:10.1038/nbt.2650
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Wang and colleagues edited all three copies of a gene in bread wheat, giving heritable powdery mildew resistance.
Built / tested: mildew-resistant wheat
As reported in: Wang, Cheng, Shan et al. (2014). Simultaneous editing of three homoeoalleles in hexaploid bread wheat confers heritable resistance to powdery mildew. Nature Biotechnology. doi:10.1038/nbt.2969
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