Perennial ryegrass is the most important forage grass species in Europe. With climate change, the growing seasons become longer and temperatures become higher. This makes it possible to use the grass plant in Norway, in those areas where there is feed production and livestock farming. – It is a tough winter there, and climate change can and will lead to more drought. We have seen this in Austlandet this spring, says leader of the research project EditGrass4Food in Norway, Odd Arne Rognli. The research community at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) is trying to find out if it is possible to adapt the grass plant to the climate in the future. Researcher: Odd Arne Rognli is the leader of the project. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK They want to create mutations in genes that control how the grass tolerates frost and drought. Rognli shows two different variations of the plant with different tolerance to frost. They use these to study the function of specific genes involved in how plants tolerate frost. – We mutate these with genre editing, to see what effect it has on frost and drought. The goal of the project is not to get the plants on the market. The project will provide a knowledge base. It can be used to increase sustainability in agriculture. – We can use this information to make plants in the traditional way. The project will start in 2021. According to the plan, it will be completed in 2024. GRASS: Odd Arne Rognli shows two different grass plants with different frost tolerance. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRKPhoto: Anne Skifjeld / NRK Climate adaptation Gene editing is a method for making controlled genetic changes . This means that one can use a “gene scissors” to be able to cut into DNA where one wishes. Ein has this scissors and a molecule as a guide. The technique allows one to direct it to a very specific area in the DNA. – Finding the desired mutations in these genes in other ways is very difficult. Gene editing is a very effective way to find out how the gene works, says Rognli. FIELD: In a field, NMBU grows several plants as part of various research projects. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK It differs from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in that with GMOs, a piece of foreign DNA is inserted completely randomly into the genome. One does not know which gene it could interfere with. Gene editing is more manageable. From a purely technical point of view, this means that gene editing can be used for many more types of genetic changes, says senior adviser and biologist at the Biotechnology Council, Håvard Øritsland Eggestøl. – With regard to climate, it is particularly interesting that one can adapt the climate to agricultural plants and livestock. For example, by getting stiffer straw on the halibut, says Eggestøl. RESEARCH: Odd Arne Rognli works at the Center for Climate-Regulated Plant Research at NMBU. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK The world is changing At the beginning of the year, the government in China approved the use of genetically modified food plants for commercial use. Later eased and India on the regulations. The aim is to make it easier to use in agriculture. It will increase research on plants that are edited to taste better, be resistant to pesticides and be better equipped for a world that is getting warmer and warmer. SPIRE: Perennial ryegrass that has just started to grow. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK – It seems that China will take a leading role in the development of the technology itself. In the long run, it can affect the global trade balance, says Eggestøl. For Norway, it will be more difficult to get a product that is certified GMO-free, says Eggestøl. According to Norwegian law, genetically modified food is GMO food. In Norway, it has so far been the case that no one has wanted to sell genetically modified food, or use genetically modified feed. GIVE KNOWLEDGE: The research project will provide information that can be used to make plants in the traditional way. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK At the same time, things are happening and things are closer to us. In the EU, there is now a political initiative to try to change the law related to this. France, the EU’s largest agricultural producer, has previously expressed support for handling food that is genetically modified in a way other than GMOs. – This is a major challenge, especially for the EU, which is lagging behind in adopting new technology. It is a toolbox that all researchers who work with this want to use within a regulated framework, says Rognli. – If the EU defines genetically modified plants in a different way than large parts of the global market, then it will be problematic, says Eggestøl. POTATOES: At the center they research and on potatoes, to make them resistant to the fungal disease dry rot. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK The war in Ukraine also means that an important food producer may be unable to produce food on which the world depends. One may be forced to see other cities. – It may be necessary with genetically modified feed resources in the future, if the war continues, says Eggestøl. Great skepticism Leiar in Greenpeace, Frode Pleym, is skeptical about releasing genetically modified organisms to the market, even though it may make agriculture more robust to climate change. The organization is to use it in research. SKEPSIS: The environmental organization Greenpeace believes that the Gene Technology Act’s requirements for societal benefit, ethics and sustainability must be continued. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK – We are optimistic about technology, but here we need more research. We know far too little about genetically modified plants for it to be safe to use, says Pleym. The organization believes that there is a risk that genetically modified plants will cross over with unedited plants. – It can threaten the biological diversity, we are in the middle of a natural crisis. We have no species to lose. There must be more research before we can consider putting these plants out in agriculture. Eggestøl says a risk with gene editing is unintended changes. – There is a danger that you get changes that you did not mean to get. There is a system for weeding out the changes that take place in the wrong place, but it is always a question of whether these systems are good enough, says Eggestøl. RAIGRAS: A larger field for growing perennial ryegrass Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK Although the plant they are researching on Ås does not want on the market, the researchers at NMBU believe that gene editing will play a greater role in the future. – It depends on how these plants are regulated, so that they and become available for countries like Norway without major restrictions and costs, says Rognli.
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