Ghana Scientist Tries Gene Editing To Create Healthier Sweet Potatoes (cornell.edu) 61
The Cornell Alliance for Science seeks to build "a significant international alliance of partners" to "correct misinformation and counter conspiracy theories" slowing progress on climate change, synthetic biology, agricultural innovations, and other issues.
Slashdot reader wooloohoo shares their article about research on Ghana's first gene-edited crop — a high-yielding sweet potato with increased beta carotone content. "For sweet potatoes, we want to look at how we can use the CRISPR-Cas9 system to increase beta carotene," said Samuel Acheampong of the University of Cape Coast's Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, who has been working on the project for the past year. "Beta carotene is a big deal for us because as animals, when we eat beta carotene, our cells are able to convert them into vitamin A."
The World Health Organization estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 children in developing nations go blind every year as a result of vitamin A deficiency, making it the world's leading preventable cause of childhood blindness. Some 50 percent of them die within a year of losing their sight. Respiratory illnesses and infectious and diarrheal diseases in children also have been linked to vitamin A deficiency. Acheampong is using CRISPR-Cas9 to knock out the genes responsible for the production of an enzyme in the sweet potato that converts beta carotene into other products. This will leave higher beta carotene content in the crop, which when consumed by humans will allow them to produce vitamin A. Sweet potato is a very popular vegetable in Ghana, making it ideal for a biofortification effort of this kind...
Additionally, Acheampong is researching how to increase the size of the crop's storage roots. "I'm looking at a set of genes which affects the transport of sugars in plants. So I'm trying to use the CRISPR genome editing to knock out some sets of genes so that there will be more flow of sugars in the crop, which will definitely lead to increase in the yield...."
He estimates it will take him up to five years to complete his research before any conversation can begin around putting the product in the hands of farmers. "Getting it to the market may take a long time, depending on regulations, etc.," he said.
In another article, The Alliance for Science cites a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing who argues "it is unlikely that genome editing-based next generation breeding will completely displace conventional approaches; only when combined with other technologies, such as high-throughput phenotyping, genomic selection and speed breeding, can we guarantee the widespread implementation of genome editing in agriculture."
"This multidisciplinary approach will advance plant breeding to help secure a second Green Revolution in order to meet the increasing food demands of a rapidly growing global population under ever-changing climate conditions."
Slashdot reader wooloohoo shares their article about research on Ghana's first gene-edited crop — a high-yielding sweet potato with increased beta carotone content. "For sweet potatoes, we want to look at how we can use the CRISPR-Cas9 system to increase beta carotene," said Samuel Acheampong of the University of Cape Coast's Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, who has been working on the project for the past year. "Beta carotene is a big deal for us because as animals, when we eat beta carotene, our cells are able to convert them into vitamin A."
The World Health Organization estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 children in developing nations go blind every year as a result of vitamin A deficiency, making it the world's leading preventable cause of childhood blindness. Some 50 percent of them die within a year of losing their sight. Respiratory illnesses and infectious and diarrheal diseases in children also have been linked to vitamin A deficiency. Acheampong is using CRISPR-Cas9 to knock out the genes responsible for the production of an enzyme in the sweet potato that converts beta carotene into other products. This will leave higher beta carotene content in the crop, which when consumed by humans will allow them to produce vitamin A. Sweet potato is a very popular vegetable in Ghana, making it ideal for a biofortification effort of this kind...
Additionally, Acheampong is researching how to increase the size of the crop's storage roots. "I'm looking at a set of genes which affects the transport of sugars in plants. So I'm trying to use the CRISPR genome editing to knock out some sets of genes so that there will be more flow of sugars in the crop, which will definitely lead to increase in the yield...."
He estimates it will take him up to five years to complete his research before any conversation can begin around putting the product in the hands of farmers. "Getting it to the market may take a long time, depending on regulations, etc.," he said.
In another article, The Alliance for Science cites a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing who argues "it is unlikely that genome editing-based next generation breeding will completely displace conventional approaches; only when combined with other technologies, such as high-throughput phenotyping, genomic selection and speed breeding, can we guarantee the widespread implementation of genome editing in agriculture."
"This multidisciplinary approach will advance plant breeding to help secure a second Green Revolution in order to meet the increasing food demands of a rapidly growing global population under ever-changing climate conditions."
Re: All they need is $100 from you (Score:3)
Even if it's fraud, they definitely will invest it a 1000 times better than any stupid Silicon Valley start-up. Their kid may be able to go to school and achieve something. Or they will just eat for a month and be happy and hence do good things for their community. Also, birth rate will go down due to a lower threat level. So if you're a racist, sending them money is the best way to stop them from making kids and coming here or doing crime. How about that!
Now if only we could send you money, so you don't ha
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Re: Sweet potatoes are nasty. (Score:1)
And if my grandma had wheels, she'd he a bicycle. What does the one have to do with the other?
(No, picked usually doesn't mean "Put in sugar water".)
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Japanese like em (Score:2)
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Roasted sweet potatoes on hot pebbles hawkers throughout Japan. Often trucks with jingle on a loudspeaker in Winter a refreshing snack. Maybe Gates foundation with all their farmlands can get something going on crops.
Roasted sweet potatoes on hot pebbles hawkers throughout Japan. Often trucks with jingle on a loudspeaker in Winter a refreshing snack. Maybe Gates foundation with all their farmlands can get something going on crops.
Yes, even after all these years I still miss the hot-potato pushcart vendors' call of "Yaki Imo..." It was the first sign of winter there.
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Go Keto, with a little Adkins diet mixed in,
The Atkins diet is a "ketogenic diet".
If you're going to advocate for something, it would be best to know something about it first.
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If they actually knew something about it they'd realize it was quackery and probably give it up. Fad diets rely on ignorance.
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Uh no.
A ketogenic diet works, and works well.
It's also not a fad diet. It predated Dr. Atkins, and continues to be used in medical settings.
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Yes, there's a medical context in which it can be useful, but 90+% of people on that diet are there because it's fashionable. Just like all the other failed diet plans they tried earlier.
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No, it is useful outside of a medical context for weight loss. It is proven to work when followed. It is ALSO useful in a medical context, to reduce seizures; it is not a fad because it has been used for that purpose for many years.
I lost 100lb using a ketogenic diet.
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https://i.postimg.cc/9MWTsp79/... [postimg.cc]
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To lose weight you need to put your body into ketosis mode, that is when you cut out almost all carbohydrates, starches & sugars and it forces your body to burn fat for energy, that means
NO MORE potatoes,
NO MORE rice,
NO MORE breads,
NO MORE pasta,
NO MORE gravy on anything,
NO MORE candy and sodapop,
eat only a little meat and l
Re:Sweet potatoes are nasty. (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, because fad diets have such a great track record!
Want to lose weight? Start cooking all your meals, eat less, and get more active. You'll be surprised how much money you save too (unless you blow it on a gym subscription). Cooking can be fun, especially if you do it with your partner and/or kids, and you now know what the frack you're eating and how much of it. And "activity" can encompass the entire range of things humans do, it doesn't have to be workouts at the gym. Start taking your dog for a walk every morning before work and every evening after dinner, after a week of that you will **never** be able to skip that walk for the rest of their life, come rain, snow, heat or zombie apocalypse. Start a garden, and keep at it (urbanites can join one of the community gardens found almost everywhere). Walk or bike to the store every day to buy ingredients for dinner rather than drive. It's not hard to do, once you form the habit.
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Would you please stop advocating common sense! That has NO PLACE on this forum. I'm off to 4chan for some advice on how to address this mole on my back.
Re: Sweet potatoes are nasty. (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, current research shows, that it's the form of carbs and how they are digested.
* Branching carbs ("prebiotics") are digested by different micro-organisms that do not cause a leptin resistance.
* Longer carbs digest slow, giving you a long, stable level of energy. Even if the food is nothing but such carbs, you won't get fat.
* Intact cells have an upper limit to the amount of carbs they can contain. Carb rush is simply impossible with them.
Short, dense, acellurar, non-branching carbs are like a hard
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Don't have mod points today but just want to thank you for this good information.
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potatoes and rice and bread and pasta are all too high in carbohydrates to be healthy,
And this is why they're the cornerstone of world's greatest cuisines.The proposition of fad Atkinson-like diets is ridiculous. Let's give up entirely east and south asian cuisine, Italian, and pretty much every other cuisine culture to stay healthy. Lots of people eat this and stay healthy.
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I guess food preferences vary but I love sweet potatoes. They are great roasted, made into fries or in soups. Great flavor.
They are already high is vitamin A and other nutrients. If they can be improved, it will be a boon to large parts of the world where they are a staple crop.
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Cut them into fries pr cubes, slop them around in a bowl with a little olive oil, and put them in the oven on a cookie sheet. Probably have to take them out and turn them once, unless your cookie sheet has a better non-stick surface than ours does. Even better than frying.
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Harder to hide changes in a regular potato. Sweet potatoes already have color so you probably wouldn't notice a small change in hue vs your regular potato turning orange like a carrot.
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Done before (Score:4, Interesting)
More than a decade ago, somebody tried to create rice with all necessary nutrients, so poor people could have good health, even if they ate only rice. He deliberately avoided any new techniques or patented techniques, because he wanted his rice free to use for everyone.
He gave up after he was sued for more than 20 patent infringements.
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Re:Done before (Score:5, Informative)
According to this article [wustl.edu], the main issue with golden rice (at least as of 2016) is that the yields are simply not good enough.
Re:Done before (Score:4, Interesting)
Bullshit. The project is 'golden rice', and here is what the project itself has to say about that (from http://www.goldenrice.org/Cont... [goldenrice.org]):
Patents are tools to protect commercial interests and investments, but as the Golden Rice example shows, they are not an impediment to the use and dissemination of a technology. Apart from being national in scope and limited in time, their owners can decide to whom to license and under what conditions. Notwithstanding the fact that a number of patented technologies were involved in the production of Golden Rice (Kryder et al. 2000), Syngenta Seeds AG was able to negotiate access to all pieces of the puzzle actively necessary for the intended humanitarian purposes, providing the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board with the right to sublicense breeding institutions in developing countries free of charge.
The patented key technology for Golden Rice production, invented by Prof emeritus Ingo Potrykus, of ETH-Zurich and Prof Peter Beyer, of the Univ of Freiburg, provided access to a package of ancillary technologies required to engineer the trait into rice. A license to those technologies was obtained from Syngenta. The package contained proprietary technologies belonging not only to Syngenta but also to Bayer AG, Monsanto Co, Orynova BV, and Zeneca Mogen BV.These companies provided access to the required technologies free of charge, for humanitarian purposes.
Eliminating reach-through rights and technologies that don't show up in the most recently developed Golden Rice versions leaves us with only a few patented technologies, all of which have been made available for humanitarian purposes free of charge. The licensing process was quick and simple, contrary to what many onlookers believe. Similar projects are looking at this licensing agreement as a good example of how this kind of arrangements between the public and the private sector can be made, especially for humanitarian purposes.
Golden rice wasn't impeded by 'da evil patents', it was impeded by anti-GMO morons.
Re: Done before (Score:3)
That falsely implies that we even know all the necessary ingredients.
In reality, most people who create such foods are so clueless, they never even heard of seconary and teritary protein stucture, denaturing, or prebiotic (not probiotic) effects on the digestive microbiome. Hell, they barely realize that you cannot digest certain vitamins without fat.
They think you can combine a few highly denatured white powders of a standardized amount of what they know about, and it's food.
Nevermind that it always depend
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Ah, the crisp tang of vegan bullshit fills the air on this sunny morning! Golden rice is nothing but a splicing of the carotene gene into species that grow in the tropics. The flat-earth lobby hates golden rice because it's not Stone Age enough for their snowflake sensibilities. They are trying to bully developing countries into rejecting it for the same reasons they reject vaccines.
What this Ghanaian has come up with is "golden sweet potato." This can grow in the drier areas that are unsuited to rice.
Re: What's wrong with sweet potatoes? (Score:1)
They're disgusting?
I know, unpopular view on an American site.
But are they savory or are they candy? Because they are kinda both, and that's nasty. Like bacon ice cream. Or honey-mustard-glazed meat.
Freedom for all potatoes! (Score:2)
Only a matter of time before a human gene drive. (Score:2)
It's only a matter of time before somebody creates a gene drive that edits human genes to further a goal, and makes it spread like a virus. E.g. for warmongering or racist purposes.
Who knows, maybe it already happened and we're about to find out, Children of Men style.
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Much sooner than that you're going to find wealthy families traveling to clinics in Uruguay or the Seychelles for germ line editing to have kids that are smarter/stronger/without hereditary defects (that last especially among the inbred European royalty). It won't stay that way for long though, the technology is improving at an exponential rate and very soon afterwards "designer babies" will be available to commoners. A generation later it will be the norm, because who wants to see their kid grow up the d
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A generation later it will be the norm, because who wants to see their kid grow up the dumbest, weakest, sickest, and ugliest kid in school?
This time it's not Uncle Chuck who is coming for the Greenpeacers, but intelligent design by humans.
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intelligent design by humans
Our track record in this area isn't very good [starecat.com]. I don't think we want to try this on humans quite yet.
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Wasted research (Score:3)
Screw beta carotene. If they want to do TRULY useful research, engineer the sweet potatoes so they naturally fall apart into fries.
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Screw beta carotene. If they want to do TRULY useful research, engineer the sweet potatoes so they naturally fall apart into fries.
As long as waffle cut is also an option I'll back that research.
Norman Borlog (Score:4, Informative)
His work in genetically modified crops saved hundreds of millions of people from starvation in India. [wikipedia.org] When he tried to repeat his success in Africa, the anti-GMO crowd stopped him.
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So you prefer that children go blind and half of them die? Sorry, I don't find that acceptable.
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Would you find it more acceptable for an even greater number of young adults to die from cancer because of efforts to keep a smaller portion of them from going blind? Especially when there existed solutions at the time which did not involve unknown risks?
This is not a situation for which other solutions don't exist. This is not a binary choice between malnutrition and eating sweet potatoes. Addressing the issue of malnutrition through vitamin supplements has been known about for at least 40 years, if
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This is not a situation for which other solutions don't exist.
Half a million children a year would disagree. Most of their families would be included in the billion people who live on less than $1/day, they don't provide their children with multivitamin supplements because they frelling CAN'T AFFORD IT. Sure, it's a political issue, everything to do with poverty is a "political issue" if you torture it enough. If the food that they can afford or can grow contained enough betacarotine to start with then they wouldn't need vitamin supplements, and they wouldn't be at
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How do you know a random mutation isn't going to cause a carcinogen? How do you know traditional hybridizing isn't going to cause a carcinogen? In another post you say to use 'vitamin supplements that have been known for 40 years'. 40 years ago, were those supplements proven to be non-carcinogenic? If people had heeded your advice back then we wouldn't have those supplements.
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There's also that fact that many natural plant alkaloids themselves are carcinogen.
Since we started editing genes... (Score:1)
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Ghana scientist (Score:1)