At the moment, Yield 10, an AgTech company in Woburn, MA, is using CRISPR - a technique that makes it easier than ever before to tweak genes — to edit rice genes.
WBUR reports that Yield10 is aiming to make major crops like rice much more productive. It's using data science to pinpoint key genes that affect growth, and then altering them using CRISPR. The company has already reported dramatic initial results from gene-editing to boost yield in camelina, a plant related to flax.
Genetic modifications have been common on American farms for decades, and now, a whole new generation of gene-edited foods is on its way, from low-gluten wheat to white button mushrooms that resist browning and heart-healthier soybean oil.
The biggest difference between GMO crops and the new gene-edited foods is that CRISPR is generally used like a molecular scissors, snipping out genes rather than inserting new ones from other organisms.
Read the full report at WBUR.