With talk of super tomatoes and clean toast and such like, one can tentatively perceive that we are on the cusp of the gene edited food revolution.
The CRISPR technique mentioned before in these pages has been about a decade in existence and is making changes to the food we will eat in the future. Of course in the US and Canada, a non-browning mushroom has been on the market for a few years, after breeders found a way to delete the gene that controls the browning enzyme, thus improving shelf life.
Gene editing is going to loom even larger in our lives as the years proceed - already the CRISPR technique was involved in the newer MRNA vaccines produced to fight the coronavirus. Who knows what’s next in this brave new world of DNA editing.
P.S. Clean toast - the ultimate aim is to develop a genetically modified version of bread which produces less acrylamide (a chemical linked to cancer) when toasted.
