Thanks to his Ph.D. study, delivered at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), researcher Daniel Moino-López made advancements in tackling the potato late blight.

Using the gene-editing method CRISPR/Cas, he made potato plants immune to the late blight disease caused by Phytophthora infestans. He did this without introducing any foreign DNA into the potato genome.

Moino-López converted non-functional resistance genes from late blight-susceptible potato types into gene variations present in wild potato species, which are resistant to Phytophthora infestans, using the gene-editing technique CRISPR/Cas. These modified plants enable the use of pesticides to combat the late blight disease to be drastically reduced.

Conventional breeding to introduce resistance genes from wild relatives of spuds into new potato varieties that have sufficient quality for cultivation and use takes decades, while the disease quickly adapts.

The CRISPR/Cas technology has the potential to transform the food and agriculture sectors by accelerating and improving the breeding of novel, enhanced varieties. Additionally, this technique has the potential to be used for a variety of qualities, such as nutritional value, taste, and resistance to other illnesses and pests.

Though the method may be used for any crop, it is particularly valuable for those (like potatoes) whose breeding procedures are laborious and time-consuming. Because of this, farmers are unable to react quickly to the appearance of new disease strains or other environmental changes. Therefore, improving popular kinds and reducing their environmental impact may be accomplished quickly, precisely, and safely by altering native genes in crops that have a history of safe usage.

Regulation of CRISPR/Cas in Europe

Alternative approaches are essential to control important crop diseases in agriculture, in line with the European Farm to Fork Strategy, which intends to expedite the transition to a sustainable food system by lowering the use of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030. In contrast to process-based rules, which are intrinsically vague, Moino-López encourages the European Commission to regulate gene editing on a product basis, utilizing new types of scientific biosafety data.

In Europe, there is a discussion over how gene-edited crops should be regulated. The stringent genetically modified organism (GMO) legislation is in place for gene-edited crops as a result of the European Court of Justice’s judgment in July 2018. However, precise gene editing technology used for targeted mutagenesis ensures that the desired traits are introduced more precisely and because of the selection of specific events, without collateral damage in the genome of random mutagenesis, which is exempt from GMO regulation.

The existing legal framework, according to the European Commission, is not suitable for targeted mutagenesis and must be changed to reflect advancements in science and technology. In 2023, the Commission will put out a new regulation for discussion by the member states.

On Friday, April 14, Moino-López delivered his Ph.D. thesis at Wageningen University & Research (WUR). The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) both provided funding for his studies.