Sunday Evening News 414 - Week 08 - 2025
Weekly report on genetic engineering, genome editing, biotechnology and legal regulation.
February 2025-02-17 - 2025-02-23
Meetings – Conferences / Treffen - Veranstaltungen
WEBINAR: LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION METHODS FOR NGT PRODUCTS
27 February 2025 16:00-17:30 Registration and Additional Information
19.02.2025 - Tage der Biodiversität 2025 an der BOKU
Mehr Infos und das Programm zur Tagung finden Sie auf https://biodiversitaetstage.boku.ac.at/
Press Releases - Media / Presse- und Medienbericht
Informationsdienst Gentechnik: Gentechnikregelung: Mehrheit für abgeschwächten Entwurf?
https://www.keine-gentechnik.de/nachricht/gentechnikregelung-mehrheit-fuer-abgeschwaechten-entwurf
Poland Advances Reform Initiatives for Plant Gene Editing Technology
https://plantinsights.net/poland-advances-reform-initiatives-for-plant-gene-editing-technology/
ECVC: Poland's latest proposal on GMOs/NGTs ignores farmers' rights
https://www.eurovia.org/press-releases/polands-latest-proposal-on-gmos-ngts-ignores-farmers-rights/
Joint letter to the EU Commission: Pseudo-science must not be an option for Europe!
https://gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20510
50 years after Asilomar: Do not give up control over NGT plants!
Proff I.: Hansens Vision besiegelt Richtungswechsel der EU-Agrarpolitik
Dongo D.: The EU’s vision for the future of agriculture and food, at a glance
https://www.foodtimes.eu/food-system-en/eu-vision-future-agriculture-food/
Tamta A.: China to Pioneer Gene-Editing Tools and New Crop Varieties in Major Biotech Initiative: Is This Future of
Farming?
https://lkouniexam.in/china-to-pioneer-gene-editing-tools/#google_vignette
Kershen D., Miller .I.H.: After an unexpected and controversial federal ruling, the regulatory future of gene edited crops
in the US is cloudy
https://henrymillermd.org/28387/after-an-unexpected-and-controversial-federal
Endy D. and Kuiken M.: US must embrace a winning biotech strategy
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/21/opinion/us-china-biotechnology-innovation-manufacturing/
Only some selected press releases or media reports are listed here. The daily up-date of the press releases and
media reports are ►here: February week 08
Publications – Publikationen
Cobb M. (2025): Money and murder: the dark side of the Asilomar meeting on recombinant DNA. Nature 638, 603-608
The famed 1975 conference about a controversial genetic technology is feted as an example of how scientific self-regulation works. But more significant is what wasn’t discussed.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00457-w
view also Sunday Evening News 412
Eisenstein M.:)(2025): Why is it so hard to rewrite a genome? Nature638, 848-850
Synthetic biologists have the know-how and ambition to retool whole genomes. But the hidden complexity of biological systems continues to surprise them.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00462-z
https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-025-00462-z/d41586-025-00462-z.pdf
Turrell, C. (2025): Startup grows egg proteins in potato fields. Nat Biotechnol 43, 157
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-025-02563-6
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-025-02563-6
Jin Y., Liu T., Hu J.,…∙Wu J., Schnürer A., Sun C. (2025): Reducing methane emissions by developing low-fumarate high-
ethanol eco-friendly rice. Molecular Plant, 18, Issue 2, 333 – 349.
Methane in rice paddies is mainly produced by methanogenic communities feeding on carbon from root exudates and debris. However, the dominant root secretion governing methane emissions is not yet identified after decades of studies, even though secreted carbohydrates and organic acids have been shown to contribute to methane emissions. In this study, we discovered that fumarate and ethanol are two major rice-orchestrated secretions and play a key role in regulating methane emissions. Fumarate released in the rhizosphere is metabolized by microorganisms, supporting the growth of methanogenic archaea that produce methane as an end carbon product, while ethanol mitigates methane emissions through inhibition of methanogenic activity and growth as well as reducing fumarate synthesis in the rice root. Furthermore, we elucidated the route of fumarate metabolism in the anoxic rhizospheric zone. We found that fumarate in the rice root is produced from acetate via propionate and succinate, and when released into soil directly is oxidized to propionate before conversion via acetate into methane as the end product. The knowledge on fumarate and ethanol metabolism in rice was then used for hybrid breeding of new rice varieties with the property of low methane emission. Cultivation of these novel rice lines or employing our findings for rice cultivation managements showed up to 70% reductions in methane production from seven paddy field sites during 3 years of cultivation trials. Taken together, these findings offer great possibilities for effective mitigation of the global climatic impact of rice cultivation.
https://www.cell.com/molecular-plant/abstract/S1674-2052(25)00029-2
Monfort M., Buitink J., Roeber F. , Nogué N. (2025): Genome editing, an opportunity to revive soybean cultivation in Europe.
Plant J, 121: e17266. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.17266
Soybean (Glycine max Merr.) is the world's most important oilseed crop and its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen makes it a cornerstone of sustainable agriculture. Despite its importance, Europe relies heavily on imports, leading to environmental and economic vulnerabilities. To address these challenges, the European Union has implemented policies to boost local soybean production, emphasizing sustainable practices and reduced dependency on imports. However, conventional breeding methods are time-consuming and may not keep pace with the rapid environmental and consumer habit changes. Genome-editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas, offer precise and efficient tools for developing soybean varieties tailored to European conditions. These technologies can enhance traits related to precocity, stress responses, yield and quality that are essential for adapting to climate change and promoting ecological sustainability. This review explores the integration of genome editing (GE) in soybean breeding, highlighting its potential in advancing the agroecological transition in Europe. By having a clear regulation and enhancing breeding efforts, GE can significantly contribute to developing resilient and sustainable soybean varieties, fostering a competitive and environmentally friendly European agriculture.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tpj.17266
Xu J-J., Lei Y., Zhang X.-F., Zhan S. et al. (2025): Design of CoQ10 crops based on evolutionary history.
Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.01.023
Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is essential for energy production by mitochondrial respiration, and it is a supplement most often used to promote cardiovascular health. Humans make CoQ10, but cereals and some vegetable/fruit crops synthesize CoQ9 with a side chain of nine isoprene units. Engineering CoQ10 production in crops would benefit human health, but this is hindered by the fact that the specific residues of the enzyme Coq1 that control chain length are unknown. Based on an extensive investigation of the distribution of CoQ9 and CoQ10 in land plants and the associated Coq1 sequence variation, we identified key amino acid changes at the base of the Coq1 catalytic pocket that occurred independently in multiple angiosperm lineages and repeatedly drove CoQ9 formation. Guided by this knowledge, we used gene editing to modify the native Coq1 genes of rice and wheat to produce CoQ10, paving the way for developing additional dietary sources of CoQ10.
Ban X., Qin L., Yan J. Cui X. et al. (2025: Manipulation of a strigolactone transporter in tomato confers resistance to the
parasitic weed broomrape, The Innovation (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2025.100815
Parasitic weeds of the Orobanchaceae family cause substantial economic losses and pose significant threats to global agriculture. However, management of such parasitism is challenging, and very few resistance genes have been cloned and characterized in depth. Here, we performed a genome-wide association study using 152 tomato accessions and identified SlABCG45 as a key gene that mediates host resistance to Phelipanche aegyptiaca by affecting the level of strigolactones (SLs) in root exudates. SLs are synthesized and released by host plants and act as germination stimulants for parasitic weeds. We found that SlABCG45 and its close homolog SlABCG44 were membrane-localized SL transporters with essential roles in exudation of SLs to the rhizosphere, resistance to Phelipanche and Orobanche, and upward transport of SLs from roots to shoots. As a predominant environmental stimulant exacerbates parasitism, phosphorus deficiency dramatically induced SlABCG45 expression and weakly induced SlABCG44 expression via the transcription factors SlNSP1 and SlNSP2. Knockout of SlABCG45 in tomato had little effect on yield traits in a broomrape-free field, but conferred increased resistance to different Phelipanche and Orobanche species, resulting in a ∼30% yield increase in a Phelipanche-infested field. Our findings reveal that targeting a single gene by genome editing can confer broad-spectrum parasite resistance in tomato, providing an effective strategy for the sustainable control of parasitic plants in agriculture.
https://www.cell.com/the-innovation/fulltext/S2666-6758(25)00018-9
Chatterjee D., Colvin C., Lesko T.a, Peiffer M., Felton G.W., Chopra S. (2025). Plant defense against insect herbivory:
Flavonoid-mediated growth inhibition of Helicoverpa zea, Plant Stress 15, 100738 | DOI: 10.1016/j.stress.2025.100738
Plant biotic stressors, including insect damage to economically important crops, are on the rise because of climate change (Skendžić et al., 2021; Matzrafi, 2019; Hatfield et al., 2011). Corn earworm (CEW) Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) is one of the economically important insect pests of maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). In this study, maize near-isogenic lines with high flavonoid content in silks, husks, and kernel pericarps were used to test against the survival of CEW larvae. Larvae feeding on high-flavonoid maize lines had increased mortality and reduced body weight. These larvae showed leakage of the midgut peritrophic matrix, indicating leaky-gut-like syndrome suggesting involvement of microbiome changes in the larval gut. Moreover, the expression of chitin formation and gut health-related genes was changed in the midgut of larvae consuming the flavonoid-rich husks. CEW herbivory caused high and localized accumulation of flavonols around the damaged husk area. Silks and husks of high flavonoid lines also had elevated levels of 3-deoxyanthocyanidins (3-DAs) and flavan-4-ols, which contributed to increased larval mortality. Feeding assays using an artificial diet supplemented with a sorghum 3-DAs-rich extract further confirmed the efficacy of these flavonoids in increasing larval mortality. Altogether, this study suggests a novel option for integrated pest management for CEW larvae.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667064X2500003X?via%3Dihub
Jang Y.—J., Oh S.-D., Hong J-H.,Park J.-C., et al. (2025): Impact of genetically modified herbicide-resistant maize on
rhizosphere bacterial communities. GM Crops & Food, 16(1), 186–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645698.2025.2466915
Rhizosphere bacterial community studies offer valuable insights into the environmental implications of genetically modified (GM) crops. This study compared the effects of a non-GM maize cultivar, namely Hi-IIA, with those of a herbicide-resistant maize cultivar containing the phosphinothricin N-acetyltransferase gene on the rhizosphere bacterial community across growth stages. 16s rRNA amplicon sequencing and data analysis tools revealed no significant differences in bacterial community composition or diversity between the cultivars. Principal component analysis revealed that differences in community structure were driven by plant growth stages rather than plant type. Polymerase chain reaction analysis was conducted to examine the potential horizontal transfer of the introduced gene from the GM maize to rhizosphere microorganisms; however, the introduced gene was not detected in the soil genomic DNA. Overall, the environmental impact of GM maize, particularly on soil microorganisms, is negligible, and the cultivation of GM maize does not alter significantly the rhizosphere bacterial community.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21645698.2025.2466915
Sen MK, Mondal SK, Bharati R, Severova L and Šrédl K (2025): Multiplex genome editing for climate-resilient woody plants.
Front. For. Glob. Change 8:1542459. |doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2025.1542459
Climate change is severely impacting global forest ecosystems, stressing woody plants due to rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events. These pressures threaten biodiversity and disrupt the essential roles forests play in carbon sequestration, timber production, and ecosystem stability. Traditional forest management strategies, such as selective breeding, cannot keep up with the rapid pace of climate change, given the long juvenile phase of trees. Multiplex genome editing, particularly through CRISPR technologies, offers a promising solution to accelerate the development of climate-resilient traits in woody plants. By simultaneously targeting multiple genes, multiplex CRISPR enables efficient modification of polygenic traits that govern stress tolerance, disease resistance, and other crucial resilience factors. This mini-review examines the potential of multiplex CRISPR technologies in forest management, breeding, and agroecological practices, showing how they can improve tree resilience and support sustainable forestry in response to the growing challenges of climate change.
Wang, J., Cheng, Y., Su, B. and Dunham, R.A. (2025): Genome Manipulation Advances in Selected Aquaculture Organisms.
Rev Aquac, 17: e12988. https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12988
With the rising global demand for seafood and the challenges posed by overfishing and climate change, the aquaculture sector has become increasingly important in providing high-quality protein for human consumption. Although traditional selection breeding programs have made great strides in genetic improvement of aquaculture species over the past decades, faster and more precise breeding tools, such as genome manipulation, are needed for performance enhancement of aquaculture stock. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the current status of three major genome manipulation tools, including RNA interference (RNAi), gene transfer, and genome editing in aquaculture species, and discusses the advances made, challenges faced, and potential future directions of this fast-developing field. Taking catfish as an example, this paper reviews the specific applications of these techniques to improve traits such as growth, disease resistance, reproduction, and nutritional profiles in various commercially important fishes and crustaceans, highlighting successful applications and ongoing research efforts. We also propose CRISPR/Cas9-mediated multiplex genome editing for the knockout or replacement of multiple genes in parallel to improve multiple traits in fish. Collectively, this review provides insights into the evolving landscape of genome manipulation in aquaculture and sheds light on its implications for sustainable practices and responsible innovation.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/raq.12988
EFSA
FEZ Panel (2025): Safety evaluation of the food enzyme non-reducing end α-l-arabinofuranosidase from the non-genetically
modified Aspergillus tubingensis strain ARF. EFSA Journal, 23(2), e9229. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9229
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9229
FEZ Panel (2025): Safety evaluation of the food enzyme bacillolysin from the genetically modified Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain
NPR. EFSA Journal, 23(2), e9220. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9220
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9220
FEZ Panel (2025): Safety evaluation of the food enzyme cyclomaltodextrin glucanotransferase from the non-genetically modified
Anoxybacillus caldiproteolyticus strain AE-KCGT. EFSA Journal, 23(2), e9221. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9221
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9221