Field trials of CRISPR-edited wheat are being conducted at Rothamsted Research, an unprecedented study in both the UK and continental Europe, where strict GMO regulations apply. The UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has approved trials to reduce high levels of acrylamide in bread, a carcinogenic technological contaminant that occurs when bread is baked or toasted that contains asparagine.

FoodIngredientsFirst talks with Project Leader Professor Nigel Halford of Rothamsted Research, who is working to produce ultra-low asparagine, non-GM wheat using genome editing (GE) for safer, healthier baked goods.

“We believe that the level of asparagine in wheat can be significantly reduced without compromising the quality of the grain. This will benefit consumers by reducing their exposure to acrylamide in their diets and the food industry by allowing them to comply with regulations regarding the presence of acrylamide in their products,” explains Halford.

The problem with acrylamide.

Acrylamide has been found to cause cancer in rodents, although epidemiological studies linking it to cancer in humans have been "mixed," Halford adds.

However, acrylamide has been on the radar of the food industry and regulatory agencies since its discovery in 2002.

In addition to baked goods, acrylamide has been found in many fried, baked, fried, or toasted foods, including chips and other snacks, chips, chips, chips, and coffee.

Current regulations for acrylamide include “reference levels” for its concentration in various types of foods and require food businesses to monitor their products for its presence.

In that case, it would be illegal to sell food above the ceiling, he warns, and other regulators are likely to follow suit.

This initial project, with the long-term goal of making bread safer, is aimed at assessing the productivity of wheat plants in the field and measuring the concentration of asparagine in grain produced in the field.

During development in the laboratory, researchers knocked out the TaASN2 asparagine synthetase gene.

According to project researcher Sarah Raffan, the asparagine concentrations in the grain of the edited plants were significantly reduced compared to the unedited plants, with a single line showing a reduction of more than 90 percent.

This new test will now measure the amount of asparagine in the same wheat grain when grown in the field, as well as evaluate other aspects of wheat productivity such as yield and protein content.

Five years to develop

The plan is for a project lasting up to five years, ending in 2026, with the plants being sown from September to October each year and harvested in September next year.

The edited plants will be grown with wheat in which asparagine synthesis has been disrupted using the "old-fashioned" method of chemically induced mutation.

Editing a plant with CRISPR

CRISPR makes small changes to the target gene, in this case to knock out that gene so that it no longer produces a functional protein.

Initially, the process involves genetic modification to introduce genes into the plant for the CRISPR process.

Once the changes have been made, the GM part can be removed from the plants by conventional plant breeding methods over several generations.

“We can do this by self-pollinating plants and looking for next generation plants that have changes but no GM components. This is already happening and we have some lines that have already lost 2 of the 3 GM components we used,” says Halford.