The next generation of biotech foods on their way to grocery stores

WASHINGTON (AP) – The next generation of biotech foods will be heading to grocery store shelves, and first and foremost could be salad dressings or cereal bars with soybean oil genetically engineered to be beneficial to your heart.

At the beginning of next year, the first foods derived from plants or animals whose DNA has been "modified" should begin to be sold. This technology is different from today's controversial genetically modified foods, and is more like faster reproduction that promises to boost nutrition, stimulate crop growth and make farm animals more robust, and fruits and vegetables. more sustainable vegetables.

The US National Academy of Sciences said gene editing was one of the major advances needed to improve food production so that the world could feed billions of additional people in a changing climate. Yet governments are wondering how to regulate this powerful new tool. And after years of confusion and resentment, will buyers accept foods modified by a gene or consider them as disguised GMOs?

"If the consumer sees the benefits, I think he'll adopt the products and care less about the technology," said Dan Voytas, a professor at the University of Minnesota and chief scientist for Calyxt Inc., who edited soy to turn the heart into oil-healthy.

Researchers are pursuing more ambitious changes: wheat with triple fiber, or low gluten. Mushrooms that do not brown and tomatoes more productive. Drought resistant corn and rice that no longer absorbs soil pollution as it grows. Dairy cows that do not need to undergo painful dehorning and pigs immunized against a dangerous virus that can sweep the flocks.

Scientists even hope that gene editing could possibly prevent species from being devastated by devastating diseases such as citrus greening, an infection until here unstoppable that destroys the famous Florida oranges.

They must first find genes that could immunize a new generation of trees.

"If we could modify the gene, slightly alter the DNA sequence of one or two letters, we would potentially have a way of overcoming this disease," said Fred Gmitter, a geneticist at the University of New York. Florida, Citrus Research. and the Education Center, while examining sick trees in a grove near Fort Meade.

Genetically modified or edited, what is the difference?

Farmers have long practiced genetically modified crops and animals by selectively selecting for offspring with certain traits. It takes time and can compromise. Modern tomatoes, for example, are larger than their wild ancestors the size of a pea, but crossover generations have made them more fragile and have altered their nutrients.

GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, are plants or animals that have been mixed with the DNA of another species to introduce a specific trait – which means that they are "transgenic". The best known are corn and soy mixed with bacterial genes for their integrated resistance to pests or herbicides.

Despite the international scientific consensus that GMOs are safe for consumption, some people remain cautious and fear herbicide-resistant weeds.

Today, gene editing tools, with names such as CRISPR and TALEN, promise to modify foods more accurately and cheaply, without necessarily adding foreign DNA. Instead, they act as molecular scissors to change the letters of an organism's own genetic alphabet.

The technology can insert a new DNA, but most products in development to date disable a gene, according to Professor Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes of the University of Missouri.

These new Calyxt soybeans? The Voytas team has inactivated two genes so that the beans produce trans fat-free oil that is damaging to the heart and that shares the recognized health profile of olive oil without its distinct taste.

Calves without horns? Most milk holsteins produce horns that are removed for the safety of farmers and other cows. Recombinetics Inc. has exchanged part of the gene that forces dairy cows to grow horns with the naturally hornless Angus cattle DNA instructions.

"Precision Generation," says geneticist in animal genetics Alison Van Eenennaam from the University of California at Davis. "This is not going to replace the traditional breeding", but facilitates the addition of an extra feature.

The rules are not clear

The Ministry of Agriculture says that additional rules are not needed for "plants that might otherwise have been developed through traditional breeding", paving the way for the development of about two dozen crops modified by a gene up to now.

In contrast, the Food and Drug Administration in 2017 has proposed stricter, drug-like restrictions for animals modified by genes. He promises to be informed next year on its progress.

Because of trade, international regulations are "the most important factor for the commercialization of genome editing technologies," said Paul Spencer, of the USDA, at a meeting of 39, economists of agriculture.

The highest court in Europe decided last summer that European restrictions on the sale of GM transgenics should also apply to gene-modified foods.

But at the World Trade Organization this month, the United States has joined forces with 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, Argentina and Brazil, to urge other countries to adopt consistent rules. and science-based for gene-modified agriculture.

Are these foods safe?

The main concern is what is called untargeted changes, unintentional changes in DNA that may affect the nutritional value of a crop or the health of a certain species. animal, said Jennifer Kuzma of North Carolina State University's Genetic Engineering and Society Center.

Scientists are looking for signs of problems. Take the hornless calves that chew in a UC-Davis field. One of them is a female and once she starts producing milk, Van Eenennaam will test the similarity of the fat and protein composition of this milk with non-cow milk. changed.

"We are a little too cautious," she said, noting that while eating beef from naturally hornless Angus cattle was fine, the Holstein milk edited should also be.

But for Kuzma, companies will have to get an idea of ​​how these new foods were made and the evidence of their health. She wants the regulators to decide on a case-by-case basis what changes are not important and may need further investigation.

"Most genetically modified plants and animals will probably be good to eat, but you will only be doing bad service in the long run if you hide behind the terminology," Kuzma said.

Avoid backlash

The uncertainty of regulation and consumer reaction creates strange links. A group of food producers and farmers supported by the industry asked university researchers and consumer advocates to contribute to the development of guidelines for "responsible use." "gene editing in the food supply.

"It's clear that this coalition exists because of the traces of the battle of the GMO debates, that's no question," said Greg Jaffe of the Center for Monitoring Food Safety for Science in the Interest public, who has agreed to join the Center Guidelines Group on Food Integrity. "There will clearly be questions about this technology."

Sustainability or hype?

The gene editing can not do everything, warned Voytas de Calyxt. There are limits to the amount of food that can be changed. Scientists have certainly made wheat with less gluten, but it is unlikely that people who can not digest this protein are totally gluten-free, or make peanuts without allergies, for example.

It is not clear either how easily companies will be able to change different types of foods, which is the key to their profit.

Despite her concerns about proper regulation, Kuzma expects that about 20 gene-modified crops will enter the US market over five years – and she notes that scientists are also studying crop changes, such as cassava, which are important in the poorest countries.

"We think this will really revolutionize the industry," she said.