Advances in CRISPR

What Is CRISPR?

CRISPR has come into the public eye in recent years, but what actually is CRISPR? As a top line overview, CRISPR is an extremely powerful tool for editing genomes, meaning it allows researchers the ability to alter DNA sequences and genomes. For those wanting a more detailed description, Live Science sums this up nicely:

“”CRISPR” (pronounced “crisper”) is shorthand for “CRISPR-Cas9.” CRISPRs are specialized stretches of?DNA, and the protein Cas9 — where Cas stands for “CRISPR-associated” — is an?enzyme?that acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting strands of DNA.”

Most people associate this technology with the medicinal world, however there are huge applications of this technology within many other industries, including agriculture and pest control.

Pest Control

With the ability to transmit diseases to livestock and humans alike, we are all well aware of the damage caused by Mosquitoes. This problem is only increasing as the years go by and as climate change increases the length of the mosquito season. It is currently thought though that CRISPR could yet prove to be the golden key without having to use harmful chemical insecticides or radiation to control mosquito populations.

Scientists from the University of California have detailed a new technique to sterilize male mosquitoes by targeting the male mosquito genes that are linked to fertility. By altering these genes, any offspring the altered mosquitoes have would be infertile. They call this technique “precision-guided sterile insect technique” or pgSIT for short – Omar Akbari (one of the study’s authors) explains the expected results further:

“pgSIT is a new scalable genetic control system that uses a CRISPR-based approach to engineer deployable mosquitoes that can suppress populations… Males don’t transmit diseases, so the idea is that, as you release more and more sterile males, you can suppress the population without relying on harmful chemicals and insecticides.”

The applications of this technique don’t stop at Mosquitoes either, it could also be transferred to help reduce the populations of invasive species without labour intensive methods or methods which cause lasting damage to the environment. However, there are still particular concerns around the impact that this application could have on biodiversity. In relation to Mosquitoes, they are a key part of the food chain for many animals, so reducing the population could have unknown effects on the wider food chain. There are also huge ethical concerns commonly held when considering genetically altering living organisms.

CRISPR Vegetables

CRISPR can also be used to increase the resilience of vegetables to protect them from diseases and pests, again reducing the need for harmful chemicals and insecticides that damage biodiversity and the environment. Yield10 Bioscience are developing new technologies to increase?crop yield to help improve sustainability. The CEO, DR Oliver Peoples has said the following:

“CRISPR Genome-editing can benefit the entire agriculture industry when applied to large acreage of staple food and feed crops such as corn, soybean, canola, rice, wheat, potato and more. Provided the regulatory processes are based on science, genome editing will also be useful in fresh produce crops and for other types of food staples, like cassava and millet, which are important in less developed countries”

Reducing Carcinogens

DEFRA (the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) recently gave permissions for a series of field trials of gene edited wheat using CRISPR. It’s thought that asparagine, which is a naturally occurring amino acid in wheat, is converted into acrylamide (which is a carcinogenic processing contaminant) when wheat is baked or toasted.?Professor Nigel Halford?(the project leader for the trials) states that trials have shown that acrylamide causes cancer in rodents, and so is considered probably carcinogenic for humans. Because of this, regulations around acrylamide levels cause significant impact to suppliers, As Professor Nigel Halford says:

“Acrylamide has been a very serious problem for food manufacturers since being discovered in food in 2002”

The researchers are hoping to create small changes in certain genes in order to produce wheat that has low levels of asparagine. In turn they are hoping that this will not just benefit consumers, but also suppliers who will be able to better comply with regulations on the levels of acrylamide in their products.

However, this movement has caused a strain in relations between the EU and the UK. In 2018 the ECJ concluded that any organisms obtained by new genomic techniques, including CRISPR, should fall under the GMO directive, but the UK has stepped away from this ruling since leaving the bloc.

This landmark?European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in?2018 concluded that?organisms obtained by new genomic techniques (NGTs), such as CRISPR, should, in principle, fall under the GMO Directive. It’s also been warned that any step away from this ruling could risk further trading relationships between the UK and EU.?Euractiv reports this?very fact:

“Pekka Pesonen, secretary-general of farmers association COPA-COGECA, previously warned that such a move would be “prohibitive in trading relations” and that he was afraid that there would be “no way to settle this” without a level playing field on both sides of the Channel.”

The trials are due to run until 2026, so conclusions on the efficacy and consumer appetite for such products are yet to be fully understood.

Conclusion

It’s obvious that CRISPR is an exciting technology that could provide some massive benefits for the environment and humanity, but there is definitely still a distrust in consumers for Genetically Engineered (GE) products. However,?Hotdaily reports that?during a study, participants showed a general positive attitude towards CRISPR GE tomatoes, especially in comparison to that of products with high levels of insecticides. The findings were particularly prevalent among ‘non-scientists’ in the study – perhaps all that is needed to increase the willingness to accept GE products is further education.