b'CRAIG NELSONGUY KOL VICE PRESIDENT, EUROFINS VP STRATEGIC ACCOUNTS &BIODIAGNOSTICS COMPANYCO-FOUNDER, NRGENE CraigNelson@eurofinsUS.cominfo@nrgene.com www.eurofinsus.com/ @NRGene biodiagnosticsnrgene.comI Need a New TruckCRISPR Editing and theMY CURRENT PICKUPis a 2001 Ford F250 with over 200,000 miles. Its beginning to occasionally slip Future of Plant Breeding out of gear, the quarter panels are rusting out and the bed has several holes in it. Even my wife says its time to upgrade.ONE OF THE GREATESTdouble stranded breaks (DSBs) in theSo, I am looking for a new truck, but precisely what scientific breakthroughs wasDNA, disabling the virus.do I need? I am conducting a thorough research of recently acknowledged, whenIn plant breeding, this technol- what is available, test driving what is out on the market Emmanuelle Charpentier andogy can be exploited for develop- that meets the criteria, getting the needed financing Jennifer Doudna were awarded theing precise edits within a plantsfor the purchase and then negotiating the deal. 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry forgenome to improve the crop. UsingI am trying to think critically about what I need their development of CRISPR/Cas9the same understanding, DNAand what I want. Should I buy new or look for a used gene editing.targeting specific genes of inter- one? How much horsepower do I need to pull a heavy Historically, traditional breed- est and the Cas9 enzyme can betrailer? Do I need a crew cab? How long of a box will I ing methods took advantage ofintroduced into various organismsneed? What options should I include? genetic variability to enhance cropsto create DSBs genetic editsinThe test drive is a critical part of the buying deci-through a long process of cross- the region of interest to a breeder.sion, as it gives me a window into how the vehicle will ing and selecting. This timely andThe application of this technol- perform if I decide to buy it, so I want to try and put it strenuous process pushed scien- ogy is vital due to the growingthrough its paces. Then it is time to look at what I have tists to find better technology tothreat of global climate changeto spend to reduce my options to a manageable set of shorten and improve the process.and the rise in diverse agricultural,two or three choices. Finally, its time to make a deal.One way, and most promising, isenvironmental and ecologicalThe process of buying a pickup is similar to the the technology of genome editingchallenges.buying decisions that many seed and plant breeding using CRISPR/Cas9.At NRGene, our goal is to developcompanies contemplate when they are considering But what is often missing is athe ability to replace any DNA frag- where to outsource their quality assurance testing. good description of how, exactly,ment with a desired version allow- There is a process you should follow. Conducting a this technology works, in order toing breeders to efficiently introducethorough review of all of the various available labs is fully appreciate how promising it is. elite alleles into commercial cultivars.the first step. Who can provide the different testing The CRISPR/Cas (clusteredThis is difficult to achieve throughoptions you will need. Who is certified for what assays? regularly interspaced short palindro- common crop breeding practicesAre their analysts adequately trained? Do they have mic repeat) system evolved as anand requires time-consuming andthe appropriate registration or certification?adaptive immune response in bac- labor-intensive activities.Then there is the test drive. Evaluating a poten-teria and archaea to defend againstCRISPR/Cas9 has the potentialtial quality-assurance lab can include reviewing their invading viruses. The bacteria cap- to mitigate those difficulties andresults reports, accessing their online submission and ture snippets of invading viral DNAintroduce desired traits within onlyresults reporting website. You could even do a real test and create DNA plasmids known astwo or three generations some- run by sending in a few samples for analysis before you CRISPR arrays, which are then usedthing that cannot be achieved usingcommit to test their entire production. Finally, review to keep a memory of the virus.conventional methods. Thus, thethe labs pricing to be sure that you can afford to pay If the virus attacks again, the bac- precise replacement of an existingfor the value received in the form of test data.teria rapidly produce RNA from theallele with an elite allele is the holyI have not yet made a decision on what truck to CRISPR arrays to target the DNA andgrail of crop breeding and geneticbuy, but I am working through a process to ultimately recruits the Cas9 enzyme to createimprovement.find the best option for my needs.FEBRUARY 2021SEEDWORLD.COM /31'