How CRISPR in Crops is Helping Reduce and Reverse Climate Change
CRISPR in agricultural production to help food security and climate change.
Photo Source: University of California
Genetic engineering is progressing in terms of altering human genes to combat diseases and cancers, but what if this process could be used to help global food security and climate change?
CRISPR is using its techniques to change the genetic material of plants. According to the article “Realizing the Potential of CRISPR-Cas Technology To Mitigate Climate Change“ by Technology Networks, this new plant focus is being used to improve agricultural production, enhance disease resistance in plants, combat crop failure, and extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables.
According to the article “In 10 years, CRISPR transformed medicine. Can it now help us deal with climate change?” by University of California, David Savage, associate professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, discussed how before CRISPR it would take about 1-10 years to genetically tweak crops.
“The advent of CRISPR basically allowed us to create new molecular tools for potentially skipping the slow aspects of plant tissue culture and plant genetic engineering, which are large barriers to doing experiments in plants,” Savage said to University of California.
A study done by Agustin Zsögön and his colleagues focused on editing the genes of a wild tomato relative, which increased the size, nutrition and disease tolerance of the fruit, according to “Gene Editing is a Real Solution for Climate Change” in Foundation FAR.
Photo Source: Foundation FAR
The United States has recognized this need and is dominating in commercial CRISPR agricultural patents. According to “The Future of Food? CRISPR-Edited Agriculture” by FDLI, there are fewer patents in Europe due to regulations that inhibit funding for GMO agricultural products.
With patents in place, work can be done to help improve food security, prevent global warming and reverse some effects of climate change.
Extreme weather patterns can increase crop failures and potentially cause food shortages, according to FDLI. For example, drier conditions make crops more susceptible to diseases and pests.
According to Technology Networks, the United Nations shared that food will need to be provided to an additional 3 billion people by 2100 and that right now at least a third of the annual global food production is wasted or lost to disease and insects.
Krishna Niyogi, UC Berkeley professor of plant and microbial biology, predicts that CRISPR editing will improve the efficiency of photosynthetic reactions in plants by 20-50 percent, according to University of California. This means more carbon will be captured from the atmosphere and stashed underground. Since carbon in the air warms the planet, a decrease in carbon in the air will halt the burning of fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gasses.
“CRISPR-Cas can also help reverse some of the damage brought about by changes in temperature and weather conditions,” Monika Paulė, a board member of the Lithuanian Biotech Association, said to FDLI. “As the [Earth] temperature rises, we are susceptible to losing native plants species… With CRISPR, we can make those species adapt. Furthermore, we can bring back the types of plants that have already been lost.”
While progress to reduce and reverse climate change through CRISPR genetic engineering in plants is still in the early stages, the practice shows high potential in improving sustainability and helping food security on a global scale.