You’ve probably heard the hype: CRISPR will revolutionize biotech …. But what is CRISPRโand what’s it doing in our food? The first generation of genetically modified crops, or GMOs, were labelled “Frankenfoods” by critics and [their cultivation is] banned in the European Union. Can CRISPR succeed where fish-tomatoes failed?
[Editor’s note: There are no fish genes in any tomato variety.]
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To understand how CRISPR will transform our food, we begin our episode at Dupontโs yoghurt culture facility in Madison, Wisconsin. Senior scientist Dennis Romero tells us the story of CRISPRโs accidental discoveryโand its undercover but ubiquitous presence in the dairy aisles today.
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Jennifer Kuzma and Yiping Qi help us understand the technology’s potential, both good and bad, as well as how it might be regulated and labeled. And Joyce Van Eck, a plant geneticist at the Boyce Thompson Institute in Ithaca, New York, tells us the story of how she is using CRISPR, combined with her understanding of tomato genetics, to fast-track the domestication of one of the Americas’ most delicious orphan crops.
Original podcast: Whatโs CRISPR Doing in our Food?
