Creating awareness to the benefits of gene editing

A major step for ward in understanding how gene e d i t i n g t e c h n i q u e s c a n help improve the qualit y of barley crops has b een c l a i m e d b y w o r k e r s a t S c o t l a nd’s I nt e r na t i o na l Barley Hub.

Work at the hub - which is par t of the James Hutton Institute at Invergowrie outside Dundee - will help provide an important insight into the different roles genes have in grain composition – and could lead to varieties better suited to the needs of the malti ng a nd d i s t i l l i ng i ndust r i e s wh i c h u n d e r w r i t e not only the cultivation of Scotland’s most economically important grain crop but also the country’s hugely successful whisky trade.

But questions hang over the ability of Scottish producers to gain direct benefits from such techniques with the Scottish Government’s continued resista n c e t o t h e c o mmer c i a l growing of crops resulting from bio-engineering techniques.

The work which was carried out by Dr Guillermo Garcia- Gimenez lo oked at ways of influencing levels of beta-glucan in barley –which is desirable for food use but not for malting - by using CRISPR gene editing to modify the genes resp onsible for the trait, and marked the first published use of the CRISPR technique in barley crops in Scotland.

H e s a i d t h a t u s i n g t h e g e n e e d i t i n g te c h n i q u e s to modify gene expression led to specific differences in grain qualit y, comp o - sition and content of this compound:

“We h o p e t h i s w o r k wi l l c o n t r i b u t e t o c r e a ting awareness ab out the potential of site - directed mutagenesis and the current gene editing regulatory framework.”

Dr Kelly Houston, joint senior author of the study, added:

“We a re d e l i g h te d t h a t our findings can provide real b enefits in terms of understanding how gene editing can help improve the quality of barley crops and gain insight into the different roles these genes may have in grain composition.”

B u t d e s p i t e t h e S c o t - tish Government recently rep eating its determinat i o n to c o n t i n u e i t s p r o - hibition on the commercial growing of gene edited crops following Brexit – a move which puts it at odds with UK Government’s stated intentions - the JHI’S chief executive, Professor Colin Campbell said that the work would still offer benefits to Scottish farmers:

“The research is ab out g e t t i n g a g r e a te r u n d e rstanding of barley genetics and not about directly producing a new variety by gene editing,” said Professor Campbell.

H e s a i d t h a t t h e wo r k wo u l d b e n e f i t S c o t t i s h farmers because it would help breed new varieties b y c o nve n t i o n a l m e a n s and contribute to a better understanding as to which genes contributed to valuable traits, and help target the best versions of these genes for selection in a conve n t i o n a l b r e e d i n g p r o - gram:

“Gene editing is only one tool to help breeding programmes. We have many other tools we use to screen f o r u s e f u l t r a i t s m o r e quickly and with developments like the Advanced Plant Growth Centre, we will be able to look at ‘speed breeding’ too in which we can use controlled environments to do conven - tional breeding much faster than before.

“This is by way of being able to grow several generations of barley populations in one year in indoor controlled environments and could halve the 10 -15 years it normally takes to breed a new variety.”