CRISPR mustard as a salad
CRISPR mustard as a salad
Genetic engineering makes mustard less spicy
The company Pairwise wants to market brown mustard as a cut salad in the USA. New genetic engineering (NGT) was used to modify 17 genes in the plants so that their leaves taste less pungent. They are already patent pending…
Wheat grains less able to germinate
Wheat grains less able to germinate
Altered baking quality of the grains weakens plant growth
To create wheat that contains less acrylamide, a gene was switched off using CRISPR. This also weakened growth and germination…
De novo domesticated tomato
De novo domesticated tomato
Breeding in time lapse?
Using CRISPR, the size, shape and ingredients of wild tomatoes were changed in just a few steps and within a short time…
Canola with bacterial genes
Canola with bacterial genes
Gene scissors application causes unintended genetic changes
Using CRISPR, rapeseed has been modified in a way that it loses fewer grains before harvest. The unintended changes only became apparent when the entire genome was analyzed…
Short-hair CRISPR cattle
Short-hair CRISPR cattle
CRISPR to equip cattle for climate change
It is often claimed that genetic engineering is necessary to help agriculture adapt to climate change. But many traits relevant to this, such as shorter hair in cattle, have also already been produced with conventional breeding..
CRISPR rice
CRISPR rice
Genetic scissors –the specific risks…
CRISPR/Cas genetic scissors were used to modify rice for smaller growth and higher yield. However, it appears that the genetic scissors are often not as precise as many claim…
Diseased CRISPR pufferfish
Diseased CRISPR pufferfish
‚Progress‘ going in the wrong direction
In order to make them gain more weight, pufferfish had been diseased by using the gene-scissor CRISPR/Cas. In Japan they are approved for consumption…
CRISPR-GABA-tomatoes
CRISPR-GABA-tomatoes
– point mutations turning food into a relaxant?
Experiments with CRISPR/Cas in Japan resulted in tomatoes with a much higher GABA content. In many species, GABA has an important biological function. In humans, however, it can lower blood pressure and act as a relaxant..
Flexible safety barriers in the genome
Flexible safety barriers in the genome
Genome organisation and gene regulation
New Genetic Engineering overrides natural mechanisms of genome organisation and gene regulation…
Honey bees
Honey bees
Species protection with genetic engineering?
Honey bees play an essential role as pollinators in intact ecosystems. However, the survival of honey bee colonies is under increased threat due to industrialised agriculture. Genetic engineering is now promising a solution…
CRISPR Zebrafish
CRISPR Zebrafish
Genetic scissors – the specific risks…
CRISPR/Cas genetic scissors used in zebrafish to investigate unintended changes in the genome. It appears that these changes can be very specific…
“Monarch flies”
“Monarch flies”
– A small intervention with immense consequences…
Just three tiny changes in the individual base pairs of a gene can make fruit flies resistant to toxins produced by specific plants. As a result, they can absorb the poison and become toxic to their predators…
Hornless GE cattle
Hornless GE cattle
– errors of gene scissors only discovered years later…
Cattle were genetically engineered with gene scissors to prevent the growth of horns. Several years later, researchers found complete DNA sequences conferring antibiotic resistance in the genomes of the cattle…
CRISPR seabream
CRISPR seabream
Suspect of ‘torture’ breeding
In Japan, Red Seabream has been genetically engineered in order to grow bigger and heavier. In this way profits should be increased. But the costs will be paid by the fish…
Genetically engineered camelina
Genetically engineered camelina
– endangers native, regional varieties…
CRISPR/Cas gene scissors were used to alter 18 sites on the genome of camelina. In the US, these plants are already deregulated even though they are able to persist and propagate in the environment, and might also cross into natural populations…
Genetically engineered “super-muscly pigs”
Genetically engineered “super-muscly pigs”
– an aspiration for industrial food production, a nightmare for the pigs…
New methods of genetic engineering are being used to produce animals with enhanced muscle growth to produce more meat. What sounds like a dream come true for industrial food production is a nightmare for the animals…
Genetically engineered mushrooms
Genetically engineered mushrooms
– safety is just a fantasy…
Mushrooms created using new genetic engineering methods have been authorised for marketing in the USA without being assessed. The reason: genes were “only” removed and none added…
Gene Drive
Gene Drive
intervention in the “germline” of natural diversity
Gene-drives are, in particular, intended to alter wild species, whereby the application is purposely not restricted to the field or the laboratory. There are currently ongoing discussions about whether such methods should be used in insects, wild life animal species or weedy plant species…
Genetically engineered trees
Genetically engineered trees
– genetically engineered forests?
Forest trees such as poplars are also being genetically engineered. The problem: there is no way of implementing reliable risk assessment because forest trees have various and complex interactions with the environment…
Genetically engineered wheat
Genetically engineered wheat
– specific patterns of genetic modification…
The wheat genome is huge. The use of gene scissors such as CRISPR/Cas on the wheat genome therefore creates specific patterns of genetic modification that are often unique and cannot be achieved with conventional breeding…
Genetically engineered corals
Genetically engineered corals
– genetically engineered for adaptation to climate change…
The aim in the genetic engineering of corals using CRISPR is ostensibly to strengthen their adaptability to climate change and increased temperatures. However, corals are complex organisms and rely on a symbiosis with microorganisms..