b'How Gene Editing is Reshaping AgTHOUGH IT HASNTgarnered the attention thisfarmer had to weigh the benefits against the possibil-revolution merits, a new technology is reshaping theity that the unknown agronomic aspects of the new oldest human enterprise: agriculture. With gene edit- seed might not fit his or her land. But, what if a farmer ing comes a new model of how crops are improvedcould get a seed with a new trait without sacrificing and produced, who produces the plants, and how theythe hard-won agronomics incorporated into his exist-will be introduced to farmers and importantly howing crop? plant breeding can quickly respond to change includ- Instead of getting a new landline, the farmer ing arming crops with traits to combat our changingwould be adding new features to a smart phone. For climate. The changes coming to agriculture will be asthe farmer the new features would be accretive, prom-PETER BEETHAM,profound as the original marriage of agriculture andising additional income without risk. This is the prom-CEO of Cibusgenetics, but this revolution represents a return to theise of gene editing. way plants adapt in nature.The key to this revolution lies in the way new traits To understand the degree to which gene edit- will be produced and introduced into crops. Rather ing tools are reshaping the seed industry consider anthan introduce a foreign gene randomly and then back analogy: the telephone. For generations, innovationcrossing it into an elite hybrid, with gene editing, the in phones occurred slowly and within the context ofresearcher edits the appropriate gene non-randomly land lines, reflecting the conservatism of both thewithin an existing elite plant. Then, the researcher providers and the customers. Then, in the 1980s, cellgrows the plant with the new trait from a single cell phones came along, liberating people from their desks,into a new hybrid that has all the characteristics of its followed by smart phones, which saw new featuresparent, plus the desired trait. Because researchers can such as clocks, cameras, GPS and internet. The com- precisely trace the edits and only grow those plants panies that now dominate the mobile worldApple,with the desired change, there is no possibility of unin-Samsunghad no presence in the landline universetended consequences. The new plant has a normal which dominated the telecommunications landscaperegulatory path as compared to a GMO organism.for 100 years. Precision gene editing allows plant breeders to Until just a few years ago, the seed industry wasintroduce new traits simultaneously, and because very much like the telecommunications businessnature is efficient, understanding the genetics of a during the Bell conglomerate. The customers areparticular trait such as disease resistance in one plant, conservative, and as most crops ended up in com- gives researchers a leg up in understanding the genet-modities, seed customers felt no urgency to reactics of such resistance in another plant. Apart from the to innovations. This was convenient for the big seedelegance of editing the genes related to a trait, preci-producers as innovation was a slow process. Evension gene editing can reduce the time between an with the advent of GMOs, introduction of a new traitedit and a crop in the field to as little as 18-24 months involved a cumbersome and time-consuming processcompared to up to 10-13 years with GMOs. This can of doing hundreds of introductions to find the rightbe accomplished using nucleases (like CRISPRs and transgene and then back-crossing that gene into theTALENs) in concert with a chemical construct called most advanced hybrids. This took years and vast sumsan oligonucleotide. All this translates to lower costs, of money, and then the innovators had to negotiatebringing the price for a new trait down from $135 the complicated regulations that govern GMOs. million (from the GMO method) to less than a tenth Moreover, agriculture is traditionally a seasonal,of this cost. The advantage of reduced time and cost and often a low margin business, which tends to makewill allow smaller biotechs to compete and partner farmers even more risk averse. When confrontedwith the agchem giants, and a new paradigm for seed with a new seed that promises tolerance of herbi- producers will be born at a time when the world needs cides, resistance to disease or a more robust yield, theit most. SW80/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2020'