Food security in focus: Gene-edited crops, new age antibiotics lead the way toward enhanced yields

24 Nov 2023 --- Food security amid the ongoing climate change is a cause of concern for the F&B industry worldwide. Soaring temperatures, growing world populations, new pests and diseases and the withdrawal of certain crop protection products are other red flags that necessitate the development of more productive food crops.

Recognizing this need, John Innes Centre (JIC) in the UK — an independent, international center of excellence in plant science, genetics and microbiology — is focusing its research on improving wheat and oilseed rape yields while also dampening the impact of temperature on brassicas.

According to a report on the socio-economic impact of JIC, wheat’s average annual genetic gain has been estimated at around 1% per year, and demand has been increasing by 1.7%. It is forecast to reach 1 billion tons by 2050.

It further says that the research directly impacts global food security, and with the worldwide population expected to reach nine billion by 2050, this is “vitally important.”

“In total, the JIC is expected to contribute £11.2 billion (US$ 14.06 billion) to the global economy over the next decade and £54 billion (US$ 67.79 billion) over the next 25 years,” highlights the report.

Regarding global food security, JIC continues to be a significant contributor to the UK’s Designing Future Wheat Programme and extensive ongoing research in wheat. A new Delivering Sustainable Wheat Programme is also underway.

Food Ingredients First catches up with Dr. Jonathan Clarke, head of business development at the John Innes Centre, to understand why food security is being threatened, the need for new antibiotics and fortified foods and how technology is set to empower farmers in times of dwindling food supplies.

What are the major threats to the world’s food security?
Dr. Clarke: Climate change is impacting the environment in which our crops grow. Environmental stresses include temperature rises, drought and salinity due to seawater inundation.

Dr. Jonathan Clarke, head of business development at the John Innes Centre.The biggest pressure we have seen so far is from temperature rise. When plants are stressed, they become more susceptible to viral diseases and fungal pathogens. We are seeing greater levels of existing diseases and emerging new diseases. Unlike geopolitical factors such as war and trade barriers, climate change is one threat to world food security where plant breeding and biotechnology can make a difference. With the right tools and knowledge, we can deliver increased resilience to the stresses that wreck our crops. 

Why did you choose to focus on wheat and oilseed rape yields to ensure food security?
Dr. Clarke: Wheat is the most widely grown cereal crop, a staple of the world economy, supplying one-fifth of calories people consume. The John Innes Centre focuses a significant amount of its research on wheat because we have received strategic funding to develop and maintain wheat breeding capability over many decades.

Wheat germplasm resources let us identify genetic variation critical to wheat improvement. It is a unique capability that allows us to make a globally significant contribution to the improvement of wheat, the most important staple crop for the growing world population.

With oilseed rape, we are focused on ensuring that we have a second break crop which will support rotation in UK agriculture. Oilseed rape is under tremendous threat because of the emergence of both insect predation in the form of cabbage stem flea beetle and yield losses due to the changing of environmental signals that trigger flowering.

In what ways can research help overcome the issue of antibiotic resistance?
Dr. Clarke: There has never been more pressure to develop new antibiotics. The situation is critical because we have used and misused antibiotics so extensively that pathogens have developed resistance to most and, in some cases, all antibiotics. At the same time, the financial model that has supported research and development into antibiotics has broken down; antibiotics do not return a profit, whereas drugs for chronic lifestyle diseases do, and pharmaceutical companies have focused more on economically viable “drugs for life,” such as statins.

Therefore, we need to develop new ways to discover antibiotics; the greatest resource of these comes from bacteria and fungi in natural environments like soil. We are looking not just for natural variations in existing classes of antibiotics but also for new classes of antibiotics with new modes of action to which the pathogens have so far been unable to develop resistance. By looking at Streptomyces strains that live in a close relationship with ants, we have identified a new class of antibiotics called formicamycins.

What role does technology play in improving crop quality? What are some techniques that can help farmers improve their yields?
Dr. Clarke: Gene - editing is the most important technology to emerge over the past decade. Based on biological processes identified in bacteria, it allows us to make precise changes to crop species’ DNA. This ability to make precise changes has drastically improved the efficiency with which crops will be bred in the future.

JIC has access to germplasm resources to identify genetic variation critical to wheat improvement.Currently, traditional breeding methods are imprecise, and it takes many generations of plants for us to assemble the multiple genes required to deliver the optimal variety. We try to stack together traits such as disease resilience and nutritional benefit. Using traditional breeding methods, stacking can be slow and inefficient, taking 12 years or more. We can make the process precise and drastically cut the time by using gene - editing.

What can policymakers do to help farmers prosper with high crop yields?
Dr. Clarke: We need policies that embrace the adoption of modern technologies which make our crops more resilient to climate change, resistant to disease and nutritionally rich. At the same time, we must ensure that consumers and those concerned about the environment and biodiversity feel reassured that the next generation of crops is safe both for human consumption and for our environment. 

Yield improvements benefit the farmer and are important to the consumer in terms of the cost of food and continuity of supply on the shelves. Public policy must ensure that the consumer understands better how technology helps to produce high-yielding, safe, nutritionally rich and affordable food. There are some exciting biofortified foods, such as vitamin D-enriched tomatoes, which have a role to play in the future. Biofortified foods need to be economically viable for the food producers and valued by the consumers enough that they are willing to pay for them and retailers to place them in stores.

By Insha Naureen