Scientists unveil GM crops alternative

San Diego-based biotech company Cibus has developed a way of modifying the genetic make-up of crops, including oilseed rape and potatoes, to convey attributes such as herbicide and pest resistance, resistance to bruising in the case of potatoes and even modification of the wheat protein that leads to coeliac disease in human beings.

However, unlike classical GM technology, the new approach - which Cibus terms Rapid Trait Development System - does not involve the introduction or integration of foreign genetic material into the target crop plant but rather alters its own natural genetic sequence by exploiting the natural editing system organisms use during the process of DNA replication.

Speaking during a visit to London this week Cibus president Dr Keith Walker said: “Each time organisms copy their DNA they naturally make spelling mistakes but they have a natural editing system which can correct the spelling mistake. It’s good but once in a while it misses and that’s how new traits - good and bad - emerge. Our technique entrains this natural system of gene repair. We are creating a ‘mistake’, tricking the gene into changing its spelling to enhance its meaning.”

The RTDS technique is already recognised as non-GMO in the USA and Canada. In Europe a group of Belgian scientists commissioned to review the technology has concluded there are scientific arguments for not classifying it as GMO. However, the European Union has yet to deliver its opinion on the findings of the report.

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