Gene editing is making it easier for researchers to help local plants varieties adapt to changes in the local environments and provide better nutrition.
This presents a useful advantage, particularly to developing countries such those as in Africa, as it avails an opportunity to tweak indigenous varieties so they can continue to contribute to the food supply.
In most African countries, colonial powers introduced exotic crops and livestock from their native countries with the aim of improving yields and also to take advantage of certain desirable traits. Many of the local livestock breeds and plant varieties were relegated as inferior.
With gene editing, native species can be enhanced to adapt to changes in local environments. This presents an opportunity to groom local or even exotic crops for the climatic and environmental conditions that apply to specific locales while maintaining optimal production. For instance, Ghana relies on imports of apples to cater to local demand.
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“Apples do not grow in Ghana, so we import them – mostly from South Africa. If we can make some changes in the apple so that it would grow in Ghana that would be great!” [researcher Samuel] Acheampong said.
