In the coming months, three different gene-edited crop trials will be planted at up to 25 commercial farms in England. The crops are:
* Rothamsted's barley that has been gene edited to produce a higher content of lipid fat, which has been linked with reducing the methane from cow burps when fed to cattle. Lipids are typically only about 2 per cent of the dry weight of barley; the aim is that the edited version could increase that to about 4 per cent.
* Rothamsted's low asparagine wheat, intended to produce less acrylamide, a carcinogenic substance that forms when bread is cooked at too-high temperatures [GMW: GM Freeze famously dubbed this "wheat for people who can't use a toaster properly"].
* The John Innes Centre's wheat that has been edited to produce grains about 5 per cent bigger than the original variety.
More gene-edited crops are waiting in the wings. Tom Allen-Stevens of the British On-Farm Innovation Network, a group of farmers, said there were also plans to later edit three of the latest popular wheat varieties, and one rye grass, which is used as a cover crop. The Times (paywall)

 

 

GMWatch is proud to be at number two, and in such good company, in a Bayer troll's rogue's gallery. He previously asked why we hadn't been banned. GMWatch on Twitter/X @GMWatch

 

 

Dr Nathan Donley of the Centre for Biological Diversity comments on Bayer's application to the USDA for nonregulated status of a GM multi-herbicide-tolerant maize: "Don't worry, just a strain of corn engineered to be sprayed directly with a mixture of 5 different herbicides....you know, normal stuff. 20 years ago this would have been unthinkable, but no one even blinks an eye at this s*** anymore. Dirty agriculture." Nathan Donley on Twitter/X @Nathan_Donley

 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible by readers’ donations. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you!