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    Home > Biochemistry News > Biotechnology News > Calyxt Inc's gene editing technology interferes with specific genes in organisms.

    Calyxt Inc's gene editing technology interferes with specific genes in organisms.

    • Last Update: 2020-08-08
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    A small, never-profitable company in a suburban Minneapolis lab is trying to beat the world's largest agricultural company to launch the next breakthrough in gene editing, according to foreign media reports.
    the small company, Calyxt Inc, was founded by a professor of genetics and has been around for eight years.
    the company has modified the soybean gene in the hope of producing healthier soy oil by replacing traditional genetically modified technology with cutting-edge gene editing technology.
    this spring, 78 farmers in South Dakota and Minnesota planted 17,000 acres of genetically modified soybeans.
    these soybeans are expected to beat the Fortune 500 and become the first class of soybeans to be sold on the market.
    gm crop technology emerged in the 1990s and has since been dominated by breeding giants such as Monsanto, Syngenta and Dow DuPont.
    but these big companies also face competition from start-ups and other small companies because the cost of developing gene-editing crops has been significantly reduced and the USDA has decided not to regulate them.
    Calyxt, Cibus, Benson Hill Biosystems and others, though unknown, are pushing ahead with their own gene-editing projects in a bid to gain a dominant position in the revolutionary technology sector. "This is a very exciting time for such a young company, "
    .
    " Calyxt CEO Federico Tripodi said he manages 45 people and that "the fact that such a small company can achieve such a big success has attracted the interest of industry insiders."
    "gene editing techniques that interfere with specific targets in the organism, either prevent them from producing undesirable features or modify them to change them in a positive direction.
    and traditional gm technology, which refers to transplanting one gene from one organism into the genome of another, has not yet been fully accepted by consumers.
    gene-editing techniques can significantly increase crop yields and give crops a variety of popular characteristics, such as more delicious tomatoes, wheat with less wheat bran, color-free apples, drought-resistant soybeans, or potatoes suitable for low-temperature storage. Nick Anderson, an analyst at
    Berenberg Bank, points out that the global biotech seed market currently totals about $15bn, and these technological advances could double the total value of the market in a decade.
    the research and development of gene-edited crops can save a lot of time and money compared to traditional GM crops.
    of the current 23 gene-editing crops, only three were developed by large agricultural companies. Camille Lynne Scott, a spokeswoman for Monsanto,
    , said universities and other public research institutions are likely to become more involved in more partnerships and licensing agreements between large and small businesses as competition in the sector becomes more intense.
    Monsanto, recently acquired by German drugmaker Bayer, has invested $100 million this year in the development of gene-editing crops in the start-up, Fairwise Plants.
    Benson Hill, North Carolina, was founded in 2012 and named after two scientists who are responsible for licensing crop technology to other companies.
    but given that research and development costs have been significantly reduced, the company has decided to grow its own high-yielding corn plants.
    Calyxt plans to sell its gene-edited soybean-produced soybean oil to food companies, and will also develop more than a dozen gene-editing crops, including high-fiber wheat and longer-preserving potatoes.
    , says Matt Crisp, chief executive of Benson Hill, a
    , the cost of developing and marketing traditional GM crops can easily exceed $150 million, with only a few large companies being able to afford it.
    and using gene editing technology, the cost can be reduced by up to 90%.
    "There are many institutions that are interested in gene editing today.
    ", he said, referring to traditional crop-breeding companies, as well as technology companies and food companies, "that speaks to the importance of this technology and that we are at a critical juncture in the modernization of the food system." Proponents of
    ", gene-editing technology, say it is more sophisticated and accurate than traditional GM technology.
    one of Syngenta's most commonly used gene editing techniques is CRISPR.
    scientists first transfer an RNA molecule and an enzyme to a crop cell, connecting RNA to the target DNA strand, and then cutting off the cell's DNA by enzymes.
    then cells repair damaged DNA, making unwanted features unexpressed or expressing new ones that people want.
    biotech companies hope the technology will avoid the impression that traditional GM crops leave in the minds of consumers as "monster food", the extent to which regulators and global consumers are receptive to the technology is still unknown.
    the European Court of Justice issued a rule on July 25 this year that gene editing technology is also subject to regulation of genetically modified crops.
    the rule would limit the study of gene-editing techniques in the EU and make commercial cultivation illegal.
    the German Chemical Industry Association said the decision was "hostile to progress". Sonny Perdue, the
    US Daain, also blasted the rule as an unnecessary barrier to innovation, and the use of "backward and outdated" rules on genetically modified crops to manage gene editing technology is a disgrace to gene editing technology.
    a USDA document, the agency has no plans to regulate gene editing of animal products.
    but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to regulate gene editing techniques for plants and animals. Scott Gottlieb, the
    's director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said in a blog post in June that the agency plans to regulate gene editing technology in an "innovative and flexible" way, while ensuring that it is safe for humans and animals, while allowing companies to market products that benefit consumers.
    the USDA chose not to regulate gene-editing crops because the technology is "similar" to traditional plant-breeding techniques, which take longer.
    while gene-editing technology has yet to face widespread consumer opposition, opponents of GM crops are skeptical of any changes to DNA. Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the
    's Biotechnology Action Network canada, points out that the new technology has the potential to make unexpected changes in the food supply chain and therefore requires increased regulatory intensity.
    agricultural giant Cargill Inc has been wary of developing gene-editing technology because of such opposition.
    in February, Cargill announced that it would work with Precision BioSciences to develop healthier mustard oil. Randal Giroux, vice president of food safety, quality and regulatory at
    , said agreements on storing and transporting the crops were moving slowly as other companies continued to wait for regulators to specify. "We really want gene-editing technology to bloom all over the market," says Mr Giroux.

    "other big agricultural biotech companies are moving more aggressively, hoping to step up research and development on the basis of the current poorly regulated east wind." In the U.S., gene-edited crops can take as little as five years from development to commercial cultivation, compared with 12 years for traditional GM crops, says Dan Dyer, head of seed farming at
    Syngenta.
    Jeff Rowe, president of the company's global seed division, said Syngenta was working to grow tomatoes with better tastes and longer shelf life and hoped to release its first gene-edited crop around 2025.
    meanwhile, Dow DuPont, based in the Midwest, is conducting field tests on waxcorn corn.
    this corn is grown for industrial use and is genetically edited to yield higher yields.
    the company plans to launch the product next spring.
    as these companies race to bring the next generation of gene-edited foods to market, smaller companies are not left behind and closely followed.
    As Robert Wager of vancouver Island University puts it: "For universities and small start-ups planning to enter the market, the lack of USDA regulation will change the industry as a whole."
    "
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