Europe’s first gene-edited wheat and barley crop trials to be held on conventional farms, will soon get underway in the UK.
The work will centre on the use experimental lines, the goal being to gain valuable information about the viability of gene-edited traits in a variety of field conditions.
Direct feedback from farmers will be ascertained with enough grain for testing in real-world food production systems secured.
Crop trials
The trials, known by the acronym PROBITY (Platform to Rate Organisms Bred for Improved Traits and Yield) are being organised by the British on-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN) along with a number of partnering organisations.
These include Rothamsted Research, the John Innes Centre, the University of Nottingham and Aberystwyth University.
Up to 25 farms may ultimately be involved in the trial work undertaken.
Rothamsted’s Prof. Nigel Halford said: “This is a very exciting project, but it is important that expectations regarding the commercial prospects of this research are kept in perspective.
“It could take several years before foods derived from gene-edited crops grown in the UK become generally available, not least because the secondary legislation to implement the Precision Breeding Act is still being finalised for introduction to Parliament later this year.”
Two different gene-edited crops developed at Rothamsted are included in these farm-based field trials. One is a line of barley that has been edited to produce a higher content of lipid in the leaves.
This has been linked with reducing the methane when fed to cattle. Lipids are typically only about 2% of the dry weight of barley; the edited version can potentially increase that to about 4%.
Rothamsted’s Prof. Peter Eastmond, who led the team developing the new variety, commented:
“Trials on-farm are a logical test for us to find out if the changes we have made to the genome will still allow the plant to perform in the field.
“We will be able to get valuable information about how the new line stands up to differing weather patterns, types of soil and possible pests and diseases.”
The second line is a wheat variety that has been gene edited to lower the levels of the amino acid asparagine in the grain when cooked.
Acrylamide is a probable carcinogen and food manufacturers are keen to have varieties that produce lower levels so that wheat products will comply with pending European Union regulations.
Gene edited crops
Meanwhile, the Irish seed sector is also pointing to the potential benefits that gene editing can deliver.
Barry O’Reilly, head of division for crop policy, evaluation and certification at the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM), spoke at the 2024 Irish Seed Trade Organisation (ISTA) variety trials’ open day – held in Co. Cork earlier this summer.
Courtesy of his presentation, he confirmed the important work being carried out by the seed industry and DAFM in ensuring that the highest quality seed of these new and improved varieties is made available to Irish farmers.
O’Reilly also pointed to the very probable introduction of EU legislation, which would allow for the introduction of gene editing and other new genomic techniques, the use of which would significantly speed up the breeding of new plant varieties.
