In a shift away from GMOS, aka genetically modified organisms, important research is continuing in gene editing, sometimes referred to as “the next big thing in agriculture.”

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[E]nter genetic editing, which Canadian scientist Santosh Kumar hails as the future of agricultural crop research. In a recent presentation for the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, he explained that current research focuses on breeding crops that are more productive without the use of foreign DNA. This, he said, improves the quality of crops, and is more acceptable in the global market than GMO crops.

Often called CRISPR, gene editing allows researchers to disable a gene or add one for a desirable trait by modifying a gene in a specific place in a genome. Think of a pair of scissors; only in this case it’s enzymes that do the work instead….

Important to keep in mind is that gene editing works only within a species’ own DNA. The goal is to bring about desired changes that in the past would only happen with traditional breeding practices. … That’s why gene-editing is often called “a high-tech form of selective breeding.”

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