Editing food security
The world population is predicted to reach ten billion by 2050, with global food demand increasing by 25–70 per cent above current production levels. Maize (also known as corn) is a critical crop for food security, providing 30 per cent of calories to more than 4.5 billion people in 94 countries. However, production shortfalls in the past have worsened market volatility and caused prices to surge, a situation likely to worsen under climate change. Boosting yields could bolster food security. Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory recently used CRISPR – a powerful DNA-editing technique – to increase the number of corn kernels per cob in individual maize plants. DNA is divided into two parts: genes and the regulatory regions that promote or suppress gene activity. By targeting the promoter region of a family of genes called CLEs, the researchers were able to influence the plants to produce more kernels.
The results are a demonstration of the potential for DNA-editing to enhance crops. Although biosafety concerns remain, many crop scientists struggle to visualise a future food system that doesn’t make use of DNAediting techniques.