GrainsWest Fall 2018

Fall 2018 Grains West 36 BY GEOFF GEDDES • ILLUSTRATION BY ESPI DESIGNS A ground floor guide to emerging agricultural science T ONE TIME, ADOPTING cutting-edge technology in agriculture meant trading in your walking plow for one of those newfangled horse-drawn models. Fast- forward a century or so, and the progress is staggering. For grain farmers and others in agriculture, biotechnology, or Bt isn’t just changing the game, but rather rewriting the rulebook. While keeping up with the changes is no small feat, the rewards for those who do may be well worth the effort. “Agricultural Bt can be broadly defined as scientific applications that involve the manipulation of living organisms, or parts of living organisms, including genes, to provide new methods of production or develop new products,” said Dr. Francois Eudes, research scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). ASTONISHING ADVANCES Given the many challenges faced by crop farmers today, the emergence of plant Bt, which traces its roots back to the 1960s, is especially notable. “This area of Bt began with taking segments of plant tissue and regenerating entire plants from just that tissue,” said Kevin A UNDERSTANDING AG BIOTECHNOLOGY Rozwadowski, research scientist in recombination biology at AAFC. “That process resulted in a range of new varieties and products. It also laid the groundwork for enabling transgenic technology [the introduction of new and functional genetic material into an organism], which is the more widely understood example of plant Bt today.” Armed with this tool, scientists have made advances in a range of agricultural sectors at an astonishing rate. For livestock, they’ve developed new vaccines and made the production of feed additives, such as essential amino acids, more economically viable. MULTIPLE TECHNOLOGIES GMO technology involves the transfer of genes from one species to another unrelated species. “Classical examples are herbicide and insect resistance,” said Eudes. “While resistance traits exist within the gene pool for some herbicides and insects, genetic engineering has resulted in additional resistance not available within the gene pool of the host plant species. Resistance to virus and fungal diseases has also been obtained in crops through this approach.” Then, there are the developments in horticulture; during the last few years alone there have been amazing breakthroughs, such as the non- browning Arctic Apple. “The novel part is that most transgenic technology to date has been applied to benefit the production side of agriculture,” said Rozwadowski. “Innovations like the Arctic Apple are great examples of products in the marketplace helping to earn consumer confidence and acceptance around this technology.” One area of Bt that has exploded in recent years is CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. The technology enables insertion, deletion or replacement of DNA at a specific site in a genome of an organism or cell. There is a handful of technologies that can carry out gene editing, but CRISPR has generated the most excitement due to its efficiency and ease of use. “While GMO technology involves the transfer of DNA from an unrelated species, gene editing leverages DNA sequences that already exist in the host cell,” said Eudes. “Gene editing is a powerful tool to affect targeted changes with precision in livestock or crop genomes.” FEATURE