Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 7 augusT 2018
Genetics technology could lead to more crops, fresher food

By KEITH RIDLER spaced short palindromic not regulate or have any
Associated Press repeats." The technology plans to regulate plants
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A speeds up the traditional that could otherwise have
multinational agricultural process of breeding gen- been developed through
company based in Idaho eration after generation of traditional breeding tech-
has acquired gene edit- plants to get a certain de- niques," the agency said.
ing licensing rights that sirable trait, saving years in Simplot markets products
could one day be used developing new varieties in more than 40 countries,
to help farmers produce that are as safe as tradi- and ithas major opera-
more crops and make gro- tionally developed variet- tions in the United States,
cery store offerings such as ies, scientists say. China, Canada, Australia
strawberries, potatoes and Essentially, if an organism's and Mexico. The company,
avocados stay fresher lon- genome is made analo- which is a top producer of
ger. gous to a large manuscript, avocados grown in Mexico
J.R. Simplot Company on CRISPR-Cas9 allows scien- and sold in the U.S., is per-
Monday announced the This undated photo provided by the J.R. Simplot Company tists to edit specific words haps best known for pota-
agreement with DowDu- shows a sign outside the J.R. Simplot Company in Boise. in the manuscript using a toes.
Pont Inc. and the Broad In- Associated Press "search and replace" func- The company has already
stitute of the Massachusetts changing the genetic changes to the genome tion. used other genetic tech-
Institute of Technology and code of foods presents an of living organisms and has One of the remaining chal- niques to adapt genes from
Harvard University, devel- ethical issue for some. For wide-ranging applications lenges, scientists say, is wild and cultivated pota-
opers of the nascent gene example McDonald's had for improving plant food getting the complete ge- toes to produce commer-
editing technology. Simplot declined to use Simplot's production and quality. nome for particular food cially sold potatoes that re-
is the first agricultural com- genetically engineered po- "The issues are about get- crops. Or, to use the anal- sist bruising and late blight,
pany to receive such a li- tatoes for its French fries. ting the right kind of food ogy, to not only have the which caused the Irish Po-
cense. The food industry has also produced in the right kind complete manuscript but tato Famine and continues
"We think this is a transfor- faced pressure from retail- of way," said Neal Gutter- to have it translated so sci- to cause problems for po-
mative technology — it's ers as consumer awareness son, chief technology offi- entists know where to make tato farmers. Gene editing
very powerful," said Issi of genetically modified cer at Corteva Agriscience, the edits. is expected to further the
Rozen, chief business of- foods has increased. DowDuPont's agriculture The CRISPR-Cas9 technol- company's expertise in po-
ficer of the Broad Institute. J.R. Simplot officials de- division. "It's important to be ogy is so new that in March tatoes.
"We're delighted that Sim- clined to say how much able to produce enough the U.S. Department of Ag- "That's part of our vision for
plot is the first one to take the company paid for the food for the nine to 10 bil- riculture, which regulates Simplot — to be the knowl-
advantage of the licens- licensing rights acquired lion people who will be on how food is produced, is- edge leader for potatoes,"
ing." through a process intended the planet in 30 years." sued a statement clarifying said Susan Collinge, vice
There is no evidence that to prevent the technology The gene editing technol- its oversight of foods pro- president of plant scienc-
genetically modified or- from being used unethical- ogy is called CRISPR-Cas9, duced with gene editing. es at Simplot, where she
ganisms, known as GMOs, ly. The technology allows the first part an acronym for "Under its biotechnology supervises about 95 plant
are unsafe to eat, but scientists to make precise "clustered regularly inter- regulations, USDA does scientists.q

Quota raised for subsistence hunting of Chukchi polar bears

By DAN JOLING hunting, remains banned chi Sea polar bear had not
Associated Press in Russia. The commission met that quota consistently
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) met last week in Egvekinot in the last 10 years," she
— Polar bear hunters in re- in Chukotka, Russia, and said.The United States in
mote villages on the coast heard new estimates of 2008 listed polar bears as
of the Chukchi Sea will bear abundance by sci- a threatened species be-
have higher harvest quo- ence advisers and recom- cause of the loss of their
tas next year, a sign of the mendations by indigenous primary habitat, sea ice,
health of the region's bear and local sources.Katya due to climate change.
population. The U.S.-Russia Wassillie, executive direc- Eric Regehr, a quantitative
Polar Bear Commission in- tor of the Alaska Nannut biologist at the University of
creased the possible har- Co-Management Council, Washington's Polar Science
vest level for bears in the which represents Alaska Center and co-chair of the
Chukchi Sea from 58 to 85 tribes that hunt for polar Scientific Working Group
bears. The quota is split be- bears, said a higher quota that advised the commis-
In this June 15, 2014 file photo released by the U.S. Geological tween the two countries, al- does not mean more bears sion, said researchers have
Survey, a polar bear dries off after taking a swim in the Chukchi though all polar bear hunt- will be killed."Our communi- not detected the same
Sea in Alaska. ing, including subsistence ties in the area of the Chuk- sorts of harmful trends in
Associated Press Chukchi bears that were
found in polar bears of the
southern Beaufort Sea pop-
ulation off Alaska's north
coast.Chukchi bears re-
main larger and fatter and
have not seen downward
trends in cub production
and survival, according
to new preliminary infor-
mation on the health and
numbers of bears.q