Technical, Risk, and Regulatory Assessment of NPBTs Update

/in /by
CHIC is the Chicory Innovation Consortium. The project’s main objectives are 1) to implement New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) in chicory in order to establish it as a multipurpose crop for the production of health-related products with clear benefits for consumers, and 2) to develop co-innovation pathways with stakeholders for game-changing technologies, such as NPBTs.

The overall objective of Work Package 4 (WP4) is to address the technical assessment, risk assessment, and regulatory assessment of NPBTs. Specific objectives are:

  • To perform technical efficiency analysis of the four conceptually different NPBTs for chicory
  • To identify off-target activities (OTA) caused by the application of NPBTs in chicory
  • To evaluate possible negative effects of the chicory compounds
  • To provide guidance for the risk assessment of NPBTs
  • To monitor and compare regulatory regimes concerning NPBTs

Updates

The aims of WP4 are the assessment of technical, regulatory, and safety aspects of the four conceptional different new plant breeding methods used in the project and the chicory plants and substances produced by those plants. This work package is divided into five individual tasks:

  • Task 4.1 deals with the efficiency analysis of the four conceptional different NPBTs.
  • Task 4.2 focuses on the assessment of Off-targets in the genome-edited chicory plants, both tasks contribute to the technical assessment. During the reporting period a current guide RNA has been used to generate chicory plants which each of the conceptional different NPBTs, plants have been generated for all of them (stable, FLP-system, RNP, and Plasmid delivery). Additionally, also Off-targets for the common guide RNA have been assessed and tested in first screens which need further validation.
  • Task 4.3 and 4.5 assess the regulatory aspects of NPBTs, due to the ECJ ruling the risk assessment of products derived by genome editing is currently the same as for GMOs in Europe but discussions are ongoing.
  • Regulatory regimes all around the world are working on genome editing or novel legislation to be adapted. In many countries e.g. Russia and India, discussions are still ongoing and opinions are being collected and the first publication on this issue has been released recently.
  • Task 4.4. deals with the safety assessment of products derived by genome-edited chicory. During the current reporting period, terpene samples were tested for cytotoxicity using human intestinal epithelial cells. Good progress has been made so far and further improvement will be done in the next period.
Share this:

Implementation of NPBT in Chicory for Bioactive Terpenes Update

/in /by
CHIC is the Chicory Innovation Consortium. The project’s main objectives are 1) to implement New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) in chicory in order to establish it as a multipurpose crop for the production of health-related products with clear benefits for consumers, and 2) to develop co-innovation pathways with stakeholders for game-changing technologies, such as NPBTs.

The overall objective of Work Package 3 (WP3) is to explore the potential of laticifers and sesquiterpene lactone biosynthesis for improved or new chicory products. Specific objectives are:

  • • To produce costunolide in chicory root by inactivation of late steps of the terpene biosynthesis pathway
  • • To produce parthenolide in chicory root by cytochrome P450 engineering
  • • To study and modulate the laticifer network of chicory root for optimised terpene storage
  • • To assay the bioactivity of chicory terpenes

Updates

The latex of chicory contains large amounts of sesquiterpene lactones, which interfere with the extraction of inulin. In this work package, one of the objectives is to identify biological activities of interest for these sesquiterpene lactones and to increase their production by using new plant breeding technologies. Bioactivity assays identified one promising sesquiterpene lactone with anti-inflammatory activity and extracts containing antimicrobial activity, for which the responsible substances are being identified. Using transcriptome data and the newly sequenced genome, candidate genes for the biosynthesis of the sesquiterpene lactones and the formation of the laticifers have been identified and are being functionally characterized.

Share this:

Implementation of NPBT for Dietary Inulin Update

/in /by
CHIC is the Chicory Innovation Consortium. The project’s main objectives are 1) to implement New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) in chicory in order to establish it as a multipurpose crop for the production of health-related products with clear benefits for consumers, and 2) to develop co-innovation pathways with stakeholders for game-changing technologies, such as NPBTs.

The overall objective of Work Package 2 (WP2) is to develop NPBT-based chicory varieties with improved dietary inulin quality.

Specific objectives are:

  • To control and increase the inulin polymer length (increase the mean degree of polymerization, mDP)
  • To increase the yield of inulin
  • To reduce the presence of small sugars and bitter compounds (terpenes that hinder the extraction of inulin

Updates

Inulin is a dietary fiber with health-promoting characteristics mainly targeting gut health and extracted from root chicory, which is used in many food products. The quality and the length of the inulin molecules determine the value and health-beneficial character of this compound. Using NPBTs, researchers want to increase the yield, quality, and length of inulin.

Currently, the natural production of terpenes in chicory makes the inulin extraction method inefficient and costly and one of its goals is to reduce the production of natural chicory terpenes.

Researchers found that they could generate mutant chicory plants in which the genes encoding the inulin break-down enzymes are blocked using NPBT due to the small alterations the CRISPR tools made in the plant DNA. All mutated plants were then analyzed in great detail on DNA level using sequencing methods.

Root cuttings allowed the selected mutants to be multiplied and used for induction experiments of inulin break-down to show the effect of the targeted mutations on inulin quality and profile under autumn/winter conditions. The mutants in which all FEH genes were targeted showed the desired effect on blocking degradation of inulin by FEH enzyme activity under autumn/winter conditions, resulting in high-quality inulin with a low level of small sugars and longer inulin molecules, with an increased mean degree of polymerisation (mDP).

Researchers could also show that mutants of terpene biosynthesis generated in work package 1 in which the Germacrene A Synthase (Gas) genes were targeted are strongly reduced in the synthesis of bitter compounds, or total lack the bitter compounds.

 

Share this:

Remember, Today is Earth Day!

/in /by

This day is about empowering and expanding the environmental movement. As the health and wellbeing of every human being are closely interlinked with the health of our planet, fighting climate change requires persistent action on many levels. We, at CHIC, are doing our part to contribute to the fight against climate change and the health of our environment. So should you! Let’s work together to give the future generation a clean and healthy future.

There have been several actions and events this year that focus on climate action, reforestation, or protecting biodiversity, as well as actions on food and environment impact reduction, global clean-ups, climate literacy, and citizen science. It is time that we continually restore the earth because we care about the place we live in and for its beauty.

To learn more about Earth Day 2021, click here.

https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021/

Share this:

Development of Four Conceptually Different NPBTs Update

/in /by
CHIC is the Chicory Innovation Consortium. The project’s main objectives are 1) to implement New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) in chicory in order to establish it as a multipurpose crop for the production of health-related products with clear benefits for consumers, and 2) to develop co-innovation pathways with stakeholders for game-changing technologies, such as NPBTs.

The overall objective of Work Package 1 (WP1) is to develop four different New Plant Breeding Techniques to be used in root chicory. Specific objectives are:

  • To develop stable and transient delivery systems of RGENs in chicory
  • To improve regeneration and transformation efficiencies from transformed tissues and protoplasts
  • To develop DNA-free methods for RGEN delivery into chicory protoplasts
  • To develop and implement novel RGENs
  • To obtain self-compatible chicory genotypes suitable for inbreeding
  • To obtain an improved assembly of the chicory genome

Updates

WP1 is a technical work package, dedicated to the implementation of the new breeding technologies in chicory. New breeding technologies are a rather general term, but in CHIC it means genome editing methods based on CRISPR-Cas. Researchers from CHIC are developing four different methods in parallel for the delivery of CRISPR tools to chicory cells. These methods should have identical genetic outcomes and only differ in the degree of “DNA invasiveness” (this is: how much recombinant DNA technology is used in the process); this is relevant when it comes to the adoption of these new technologies and their products by regulators and the general public. In the first three years of the project, the three identified methods with varying degrees of DNA invasiveness have been fully implemented, and plants have been grown to maturity in which the genes responsible for root bitter compounds have been eliminated by genome editing. A patent application has been filed on this innovation! Meanwhile, other partners within the project continue to work on alternative genome editing molecules (that may work even better in plant cells than CRISPR-Cas) and on a solution for self-incompatibility. This feature is what chicory plants cannot be fertilized by their own pollen, as had been done in many other plant species, which poses a serious bottleneck in chicory variety improvement by plant breeding. The genes for self-incompatibility in chicory have been found and solutions to bypass their activities are being tested now. Finally, additional work has been performed to improve the chicory genome sequence.

Development of Four Conceptually Different NPBTs
The objective of WP1 is to develop four conceptually different methods for genome editing of chicory, methods that differ in their degree of DNA invasiveness…
Share this:

Assessing the Intestinal Permeability and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Sesquiterpene Lactones from Chicory

/in /by

For immediate release:

We are pleased to announce the recently accepted scientific publication about chicory from one of our partners, Claudia Nunes dos Santos from iBET entitled, “Assessing the Intestinal Permeability and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Sesquiterpene Lactones from Chicory”, published in Nutrients (https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12113547).

Chicory is a main dietary source of sesquiterpene lactones (SLs), which have underexplored bioactive potential. It has recently gained popularity due to large quantities of health promoting compounds in its roots, including inulin and SLs.

In the study, researchers have assessed the capacity of SLs to permeate the intestinal barrier to become physiologically available, using in silico predictions and in vitro studies with the well-established cell model of the human intestinal mucosa (differentiated Caco-2 cells). Researchers also evaluated the potential of SLs to modulate inflammatory responses through modulation of the nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) pathway, using a yeast reporter system. The study revealed Lactucopicrin as the most permeable chicory SL in the intestinal barrier model but had low anti-inflammatory potential. Accordingly, 11β,13-dihydrolactucin SL showed with the highest anti-inflammatory potential, which inhibited up to 54% of Calcineurin-responsive zinc finger (Crz1) activation, concomitantly with the impairment of the nuclear accumulation of Crz1, the yeast orthologue of human NFAT.

To learn more about the study, please follow this link: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/11/3547

About CHIC Project

CHIC is the Chicory Innovation Consortium. Its objective is to implement New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) in chicory in order to establish it as a multipurpose crop for the production of health-related products with clear benefits for consumers, and to develop co-innovation pathways with stakeholders for game-changing technologies, such as NPBTs. CHIC will develop four different NPBTs. They will be used to steer bioprocesses in chicory and mobilize its under-explored potential to produce immunomodulatory prebiotics and medicinal terpenes. The conceptually different NPBTs will be assessed with respect to technological potential, risks, regulatory framework and their socio-economic impacts. This will be done in close consultation with a Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) composed of relevant stakeholders in industry and society. For more information, visit our website at chicproject.eu/

To watch the short animation about the study, please click here:

###

Share this:

XI International Agriculture Symposium – AGROSYM 2020

/in /by

In the article „Metabolic Engineering in Chicory by CRISPR/Cas9 Editing“, presented at the XI International Agriculture Symposium “AGROSYM 2020”, held virtually on 8-9th of October 2020, a recently popular gene editing technique was used to alter chicory genes involved in the metabolism of bitter compounds that belong to the group of terpenoids. This CRISPR/Cas9 editing technique is a scientific tool that enables a very precise genome editing, the importance of which is reflected in the fact that it’s discovery earned this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The technique was used to edit chicory genes that produce bioactive but bitter compounds, with the purpose to obtain chicory varieties with less bitter taste and varieties in which the industrial extraction of inulin, an important prebiotic fiber and sweetener, is facilitated.

Gene editing in chicory was successful and we were able to confirm and characterize three mutated plants, which will be used further to reach the goals of the CHIC project. We also improved the way we detect these mutants by using a combination of PCR methods and enzymatic cutting of mutations introduced into the DNA by CRISPR/Cas9. These improvements enable a faster and more sensitive detection of mutated plants which will be important for ongoing research on CHIC.

For more information about the project, please visit us at https://chicproject.eu/

To find out more about the event, please visit http://agrosym.ues.rs.ba/index.php/en/

Share this:

What Does Young Generation Think About Gene Editing?

/in /by

Since the CHIC project’s inception 30 months ago, several essential steps and first results continue to arise and become available for the general public. More plants are being evaluated, and a variety of methods for testing safety purposes are in development, in the belief that CHIC will bring healthy and safe products to consumers. Even at the onset of regulatory changes in genome-edited plants, the project is moving forward to achieve what the scientists set out to do.

In CHIC, the use of new breeding technologies (NPBTs) is based on the CRISPR-Cas method, which is still highly controversial among the general public. In today’s society, any change in the DNA of any natural organism, such as plants, is often magnified and scrutinized. However, we often wonder what the young generation thinks of such a process. More young people are fighting to save the environment and battling climate change while pushing the narrative to listen to scientists. Though, would they believe, for example, how plant scientists are changing, or saving, our critical food value chain for a more sustainable global society?

On 27 November 2020, during European Researchers’ Night, a few young climate activists are invited to a roundtable discussion with plant scientists and researchers from the CHIC project to discuss and get insights, among the young people, about the idea of genome editing. These young people are very passionate about environmental causes, but can they accept that to achieve the goals the society needs to solve the climate crisis, alterations of some of the food’s DNA are a necessity to adjust to the changing environment?

The research in the CHIC project is progressing quite well. As the consortium develops four different methods of delivery using CRISPR tools to chicory cells, the result should produce identical genetic outcomes. Since this approach would be more acceptable by the regulators and the general public, less DNA invasiveness must be performed.  Further research has been done on inulin, dietary fiber with health-promoting characteristics. In any scientific research that could affect the population, technical, regulatory, and safety aspects of chicory plants using this technique are being assessed. However, a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could have an adverse effect on the CHIC project, which would make any products derived by genome editing as being under the GMO label. Plant researchers and scientists are certainly against this ruling.

In other aspects of the project, the socio-economic and environmental impacts on the whole value chain are also being evaluated. Qualitative research on societal issues regarding chicory innovation will be examined, which currently has six concepts for commercializing the chicory. It focuses on the effects on GDP, growth, competitiveness, employment, water consumption, among others. Stakeholders are also continually engaged to further align technology innovation with societal needs, which includes assessing, among others, acceptance of genome-edited chicory (and derived) products for commercial development. Even with the current ECJ ruling, the legal framework for genome-edited plants in the EU could change. If such time comes, the project will adjust accordingly and find ways to commercialize the process within an accepted legal framework.

European Researchers’ Night
Visit this page for more information and to register!

We ask ourselves, do young people accept this new technology and allow for future research into genome editing if it solves one of many global problems that our society is facing today? Please join us in this exciting roundtable discussion and share your thoughts and opinions!

This is CHIC!

For more information about the project, please visit us at https://chicproject.eu/

Share this:

Chic vs COVID19

/in /by

In CHIC we join the fight against coronavirus and want to research whether compounds from the root of chicory can be developed into drugs against the virus. We are looking for research partners to test this activity. If you need more information, please write us through our contact form.

Share this:

Biotechnology from the Blue Flower

/in /by

Artists Anna Dumitriu and Alex May are working with CHIC Consortium members to develop a new sculptural and bio-digital installation entitled “Biotechnology from the Blue Flower” and will be spending time on site with consortium members over the life of the project. In 2019 the artists attended the consortium meeting in Madrid and have been working with chicory roots in their studio, and in February 2020 they will be visiting Wageningen Plant Research, Sensus and KeyGene as part of their research with more visits to come. 

Dumitriu and May are exploring the internal and external morphology of chicory plants and well as the history and cultural impacts of the plants throughout history, for example as an ancient remedy, a natural dye, or a coffee additive in times of crisis and they aim to make links between those earlier histories and the cutting edge contemporary research being explored today by the CHIC Consortium, especially and the potential future benefits of working with new plant breeding methods techniques such as CRISPR to provide future healthcare and food security benefits. 

Chicory was one of the plants (along with the cornflower) that inspired the idea of the Blue Flower in German Romanticism – a central symbol of the movement. The romantic movement was in part a reaction to the industrial revolution and held nature and emotion in high esteem. The artists told us “we feel that we are now experiencing a biotechnological revolution and it’s fascinating again this idea of the blue flower becomes an important symbol again, but this time in a more complex position at the interface of nature and technology. Central to societal explorations of what may be acceptable in terms of synthetic biology and how ‘nature’ and ‘natural’ may be defined in the future.” 

The artists are focussing on the areas of the use of chicory for dietary fibre and its impact on human health and the human microbiome, antibiotics, and the uses of inulin and medicinal terpenes extracted from Cichorium intybus (common chicory). They are working with the plants themselves: the roots, the flowers, chicory flour and chicory inulin and terpenes, as well as other potential materials they might discover. These sculptural, physical materials will be fused with video footage from the laboratory and data visualisations derived from the research processed through 3D scanning and modelling techniques to create a final installation with outcomes being developed throughout the life of the project. The artists are especially keen to work with CRISPR, as a development to Anna Dumitriu’s earlier works with synthetic biology, such as “Make Do and Mend”, which the CRISPR Journal described as “Perhaps the First Application of CRISPR gene editing technology in BioArt” Keep up to date with the artists at www.annadumitriu.co.uk and www.alexmayarts.co.uk  

Share this: