Scientific Breakthroughs: New Products of Biotechnology for Consumers

Since the first year of commercial planting of biotech crops in 1996, more than 70 countries have planted or imported biotech crops. In 1996, the six founder biotech crop countries, including the USA, China, Argentina, Canada, Australia, and Mexico, planted biotech crops in a total of 1.7 million hectares.

These biotech crops were developed to address farmers' concerns such as increased yield, insect resistance, and herbicide tolerance. Three decades later, scientists are now focusing on developing new products for consumers. Previously developed crops and plants include purple tomatoes from Norfolk Healthy Produce; Piggy Sooy, soybeans with high levels of pork protein; rice with animal muscle and fat cells within the grains; rice that grows in the ocean; and a bioluminescent glowing Firefly Petunia. In addition to these products are GM banana, biofortified rice, bioengineered Pothos, golden lettuce, and the first banana resistant to Fusarium Tropical Race 4 and Black Sigatoka disease.

GM banana approved for commercial planting in Australia

Australia's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) issued a license to the Queensland University of Technology to commercially cultivate QCAV-4, a genetically modified (GM) variety of Cavendish banana resistant to the fungal disease Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 (TR4), also known as Panama disease. The QCAV-4 banana is the world's first GM banana to be approved for commercial production and also the first Australian GM fruit approved for growing in Australia. QCAV-4 offers a potential safety net against the devastating Panama Disease tropical race 4 (TR4) which threatens the global US$20 billion banana industry.

Biofortified rice with high Vitamin B1 content

Scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), ETH Zurich, and Taiwan's National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) were able to successfully increase the Vitamin B1 content of rice grains, a significant achievement in the fight against vitamin B1 deficiency, which is associated with a rice-based diet. The scientists generated rice lines expressing a gene that sequesters vitamin B1 in the endosperm tissues. The research team revealed that the level of vitamin B1 in rice grains multiplied by 3 to 4 in the modified lines.

First gene-edited seedless blackberry

Pairwise, a US-based company pioneering the application of CRISPR technology in food and agriculture, developed the world's first seedless blackberry using the company's proprietary Fulcrum™ Platform, a complete suite of novel tools for CRISPR application in plants. The seedless blackberry is the first time seedlessness has been achieved in any caneberry. Pairwise scientists used a broad suite of CRISPR tools and multiplex editing techniques to eliminate the hard pits in berry fruit to create soft, small seeds like those found in grapes and watermelon that are commonly labeled as seedless.

Bioengineered pothos purifies indoor air 30x than regular houseplants

Neoplants, a Paris-based start-up started selling bioengineered pothos called Neo Px in the United States. Neo Px is the first bioengineered air purifier developed through synthetic biology, and a nature-based solution to fight indoor air pollution known as Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs. Neo Px is up to 30x more efficient at purifying air compared to regular houseplants and is designed to fight against the most prevalent, harmful, and difficult-to-target indoor air VOCs, including Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX).

Biofortified golden lettuce

A research team from Spain developed an innovative method for the biofortification of leaves and other green plant tissues with increased healthy substances such as beta-carotene, the main precursor of vitamin A in the human diet. The researchers increased the beta-carotene content in the lettuce leaves without negatively affecting other key processes such as photosynthesis. The study shows that it is possible to multiply the beta-carotene levels in leaves by creating new places to store them outside the photosynthetic complexes. The researchers were able to store high levels of beta-carotene in plastoglobules, the fat storage vesicles inside chloroplasts. The biofortified lettuce has up to a 30-fold increase in beta-carotene levels compared to untreated leaves. The massive accumulation of beta-carotene also gave the lettuce leaves a characteristic golden color.

First banana resistant to TR4 and Black Sigatoka

Researchers at Wageningen University and Research, Chiquita, KeyGene, and MusaRadix have developed a new hybrid banana plant named Yelloway One that is resistant to two of the most destructive diseases for bananas, Fusarium Tropical Race 4 (TR4) and Black Sigatoka. In recent years, TR4 and Black Sigatoka have caused significant damage, resulting in losses worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Yelloway One is resistant to TR4, a fungus capable of devastating entire plantations, and Black Sigatoka, a leaf disease that drastically reduces yields. Both diseases have been long-standing threats to the banana industry, particularly to the widely exported Cavendish banana. The plants will soon be sent to regions where TR4 and Black Sigatoka have caused significant damage, such as the Philippines and Indonesia.

To follow the development of new products of biotechnology, visit the ISAAA website and subscribe to the Biotech Updates, or follow ISAAA on Facebook, Instagram, and X/Twitter.

For further reading:

• Australia Approves Commercial Planting of GM Banana
• Scientists Develop Biofortified Rice with High VitB1 Content Without Affecting Yield
• Pairwise Develops First Gene-Edited Seedless Blackberry
• Bioengineered Super Plant that Purifies Indoor Air 30x than Regular Houseplants Goes on Sale in the US
• Researchers Develop Biofortified Golden Lettuce with 30 Times More Beta Carotene
• Wageningen Researchers and Partners Develop First Banana Resistant to TR4 and Black Sigatoka

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