The following report is by Farmer’s Weekly:
A gene-editing potato project aims to boost the rate of photosynthesis in potato crops to promote yield, water use efficiency and drought tolerance.
The initiative, known as PhotoBoost, sets it sights on a 20-25% increase in photosynthetic performance, which could lead to a 30% increase in plant biomass.
The EU-funded project draws on a range of genetic engineering disciplines and focuses on six key points to improve C3 photosynthetic performance in potatoes:
- Optimise light reaction efficiency
- Engineer a photorespiratory bypass
- Integrate algal carbon dioxide concentration mechanisms
- Optimise source-sink capacity
- Improve water-use efficiency
- Integrate an oxygen scavenging mechanism
Gene-Editing In Practice
Jonathan Menary, social scientist at the University of Oxford, sets out the timeline for breeders to take commercial lines of potato forward as soon as 2025.
Dr Menary continues that by combining two or more biotechnology strategies, scientists have seen rates of photosynthesis increase by at least 20-25%.
Potatoes are C3 crops, so in certain light conditions a process called photoprotection begins, which limits photosynthesis.
When conditions change, the plant cannot recover quickly. By genetically editing crops we can overcome this problem, overexpressing certain enzymes to reduce photoprotection and speed up recovery.
Reducing Photorespiration
Another way to optimise photosynthesis is to avoid a process called photorespiration. The enzyme Rubisco is responsible for fixing carbon dioxide and converting it into sugars.
However, in C3 plants, up to 30% of the time Rubisco is reacting with oxygen rather than carbon dioxide.
In the early atmosphere there was little oxygen, so plants were not affected by photorespiration. As early photosynthesisers pumped oxygen into the atmosphere, levels slowly increased.
Photorespiration costs the plant energy, which is why PhotoBoost intends to use the following genetic tools to overcome this:
Gene-Editing
This technique can “knock out” and remove target genes that code for certain enzymes responsible for transporting non-target substances.
This process involves precise changes to an organism’s genome, using techniques such as CRISPR-Cas 9. No foreign DNA is introduced.
Therefore, the method is likely to not be regulated as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in England once the precision breeding bill is introduced. However, regulation could be different in Scotland.
Agrobacterium Transgenics
Cyanobacteria are bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. “Introducing certain cyanobacteria genes into a crop genome can reduce rates of photorespiration,” explains Dr Menary.
However, transgenics involves the modification of an organism using foreign DNA and will consequently be regulated as a GMO in the UK and European Union.
This means PhotoBoost potato products will be classified as a GMO as they contain foreign DNA.
The projects aims to exploit the latest genetic tools and knowledge about photosynthesis, but this approach could be useful for more than potatoes and rice – the two main PhotoBoost crops.
Discreet photosynthetic improvements could be licensed for different crops, depending on local needs and biotechnology regulation.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
The WinePress has previously reported that this Russia-Ukraine war is being used as a proxy to usher in more GMOs, agrichemicals, and gene-spliced crops. Europe has been quite resistant to this stuff, but the government, Big Ag and Big Pharma are getting anxious to implement them.
Politico Says ‘Like It Or Not,’ Gene-Edited Crops Are Coming To The EU’
Of course, potential health effects are never discussed; and seeing how much GMOs have destroyed Americans, the same should be expected here as well.
It’s just more dummies thinking they are can outsmart and play God.
The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.
Proverbs 19:3
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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Off-topic, does anyone here listen to Dr. Eric Berg? He has a channel on Stupid Tube. I think he has good stuff about improving one’s health and longevity, and healing afflictions (healing that is ultimately the Lord’s will and doing of course) without having to depend on the great and true drug lords of all, the pharmaceutical industry. He’s more on natural, nutrient-dense foods. I’m unable to say his work is utterly about natural food and remedies because I haven’t seen all of his content, but the ones that I have, recommend natural means to improve health by tackling nutrient deficiencies and abstaining from toxic foods.
I have learned a lot from Berg and he has some good stuff, but that does not mean he is perfect and without error. Berg is a keto zealot and has a distain for grains and carbs. He’s one of these guys that would have you to believe that keto is the end-all be-all, and answer to life’s problems. From my research and trying a little bit of keto myself, I think it serves a purpose in the short term for weight loss and fixing insulin resistance, but long term I do not recommend. There are plenty of cases of people having “keto flu,” people becoming insomniacs, poor metabolism for some, and free testosterone going down. Also, building muscle will be really hard to do, since carbs are the primary energy source for your cells. All high-class athletes eat carbs. Period.
I do well on carbs once I fixed my insulin resistance and improved my digestion with fermented foods and drinks and probiotics. Though, the type of grain will vary. It MUST be organic. I recommend Einkorn flour: it’s easier to digest, has a lower gluten content, lower overall netcarbs, higher protein, and more nutrients. The Mediterranean’s eat TONS of carbs and are very healthy and live long lives. Berg does not like to discuss this obvious fact, neither those who insist on shilling Paleo, Keto, and Carnivore as the only way to diet.
There are other things he’s been caught making up. I’ve heard him try to imply one time that fasting can actually INCREASE muscle growth because of the acute HGH increase, which is just pseudo-science and unfounded.
He is also a scientologist. His son exposed him. So while that does not automatically make his advice bad, it is something to keep in mind when you considering his zeal and stubbornness when pushing keto for everything.
I’ve noticed that he mentions keto quite a bit (from the few videos I’ve seen) and being against carbs, which I don’t think is right either. I was listening to a few clips of his where he mentions avoiding carbs and I thought, this is something I’m not going to do because I do regular, home workouts and work in a very physical job that requires a lot of energy. It’s great that when the Lord leads us into something or uses someone that can be a source of good advice, even lost people, he still wants us to make the effort to sift the good information from the bad.
Bryan also had this great advice I’ve heard a long time ago, that I’ve proven with my own bodily condition, that it’s good to also have in your diet the natural, nutritious foods that come from wherever country you were born and grew up in. In my case, being Asian from the very corrupt Philippines, when I stopped eating rice while living in another corrupt nation, Canada, I was just exhausted all the time and had a foggy brain. The foods mentioned in the bible are great to add to our meals also.
*Correction, not “quite a bit”, he mentions the ketogenic diet and avoiding carbs A LOT.
John 6:48 I am that bread of life.
When in doubt, always go back to the Bible.
Romans 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
If you do a word study on “herb(s)” and read the contexts, you’ll notice that herbs includes all sorts of things like fruit trees, grains (including corn, rice, beans), and more, and is not limited to just a garden salad as many think that it is.
I also believe in “intuitive eating,” which is what Bryan is saying. Just eat what your ancestry and kindred eats and you’ll do the best on it overall. Like I said, things like Keto in the short term to lose some weight and reverse insulin resistance is fine; and after you’ve done some detoxing and a lot of fasting, then I recommend people get on a high-quality intuitive diet and do that. So in your case, just eat Asian and Filipino cuisine. I am mostly Polish, Czech, and German, so eating lots of pork and other foods of Central European descent works well with me; though, I do eat a lot of Mediterranean style meals, too. I eat bread and noodles all the time.
If you have ever noticed, so many of these keto people (not all) are scrawny, and they cannot put on any muscle and girth. What a lot of these people don’t seem to realize is that carbs store water, so when these keto zealots talk about losing weight, a lot of them are just losing lots of excess water stores, and is one of the reasons why they get tired more often and cannot perform aerobic exercises as well, and cannot put on muscle as easily. I put on a lot of muscle this past winter and I gained a lot of weight, and I ate a lot of carbs, but I still remained fairly trim and actually LOST body fat.
I remember one of these shills named Thomas Delauer (who is more than likely on steroids), made an absurd campaign years ago to convince everyone that bananas are bad because they are high in sugar. So stupid!