Monsanto licenses CRISPR gene editing
On Thursday, Monsanto acquired the licensing rights for 'revolutionary' gene editing method CRISPR for use on seed development from the Broad Institute and Harvard University. Having been dubbed the best hope for ending the war against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by experts, the US Department of Agriculture has agreed not to regulate foods modified by CRISPR as GMOs. DuPont Pioneer, a firm developing corn with CRISPR expects its rival drought-tolerant crop to reach the market within five years with its partnership with CRIPSR player Carubou Biosciences. The agreement between the Broad Institute and Monsanto is the first agricultural license that Broad has signed, though the deal is non-exclusive. 
Monsanto agribusiness greenhouses on top of a research building in St Louis Brent Stirton/Getty

Here come the CRISPR-crops. Agricultural biotech heavyweight Monsanto has licensed the use of CRISPR-Cas genome-editing technology from the Broad Institute at Harvard University and MIT.

Monsanto intends to use CRISPR to make crops like corn and soybeans more fruitful and more resistant to diseases and drought, says Tom Adams, Monsanto’s head of biotechnology.

“Getting more productivity out of less acres with less inputs is clearly a critical thing for humanity,” he says. “And gene editing is another tool that can help us accelerate that.”

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CRISPR allows researchers to remove and replace bits of DNA in a much more targeted way than previous genetic modification techniques. That precision makes genome editing more efficient than traditional plant breeding, Adams says, because you don’t have to go through multiple generations to get the trait you want.

“Especially in vegetables, there’s a lot things that people have been doing that are very gene-specific,” like trying to breed tomatoes and peppers that are resistant to viruses and fungi, Adams says. “Genome editing is a perfect tool to start moving those genes around.”

Ethical restrictions

The Broad Institute has shared its tools and techniques with academic and non-profit groups, but has limited licences for commercial research. The non-exclusive agreement with Monsanto is the first time that the Broad Institute has issued a license for agricultural use.

And the institute didn’t make the decision lightly, according to a statement by chief business officer Issi Rosen. Ethical and safety concerns include the proliferation of “gene drives”, self-copying bits of DNA that can quickly infiltrate an entire species. Another worry is that the technology could be used to create sterile seeds, forcing farmers to buy new seeds year after year.

To address those issues, the institute placed restrictions on its licenses that prohibit the development of gene drives and infertile seeds using their technology, as well as limiting some types of tobacco modification.

Regulatory free pass

Lack of government oversight is another concern, according to Patty Lovera, assistant director at the advocacy organisation Food and Water Watch. When it comes to genetic modification, the US Department of Agriculture is using old regulations for new technology, Lovera says. Because genome editing doesn’t fall under the plant-pest rules the USDA has used to regulate other genetically modified crops, CRISPR-modified corn and mushrooms, for example, have gotten a free pass.

“It seems like there are pretty gaping holes in our regulatory system for genetic engineering, and CRISPR falls right through them,” Lovera says.

That’s putting a lot of faith in our understanding of what’s going on at the genetic level, Lovera says. When researchers edit a gene to alter one attribute of a plant, unintended results may crop up.

“By getting that trait, are you giving something else up that may require some other chemical crutch, fertilizer or pesticide or something like that?” Lovera says.

Many of the CRISPR-modified foods that have been produced so far could have been created through traditional breeding, Monsanto’s Adams says, and the US doesn’t regulate those kinds of crops.

“At the end of the day, if the product is indistinguishable from a product that you make by breeding, it’s hard to understand exactly how that would fit into the regulatory system,” he says.

Monsanto isn’t the first biotechnology company to venture into CRISPR-crop production. DuPont partnered with Caribou Biosciences last year to produce drought-tolerant and high-starch-producing corn plants.