In a sign of the United Kingdom’s intentions to move away from European Union (EU) restrictions following Brexit, its Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has given scientists at Harpenden-based Rothamsted Research the go-ahead for the first field trials of gene-edited wheat made using CRISPR technology anywhere in the UK. The wheat has reduced amounts of the naturally occurring amino acid asparagine, which converts to the potentially carcinogenic chemical acrylamide when bread is baked or toasted. By knocking out the asparagine synthetase gene TaASN2, researchers have demonstrated more than a 90% reduction of asparagine concentrations in the grain of one line of edited wheat. The trials are expected to run for five years, measuring the amount of asparagine in the same wheat grain when grown in the field, as well as assessing other aspects such as yield and protein content. The aim is to produce ultra-low-asparagine, non-gene-modified wheat, according project leader Nigel Halford. Current EU regulations treat gene editing of crops the same as genetic modification, though in April the European Commission launched a review of its rules on genetically modified organisms, paving the way to a possible loosening of restrictions for plants resulting from gene-editing technology. DEFRA secretary George Eustice said at a farming conference last January that the UK, outside of the EU, was now free to make its own decisions based on the science, calling the current EU approach—enshrined in a 2018 European Court of Justice ruling— “flawed and stifling to scientific progress.”
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