1990-2003: thirteen years of research in dozens of scientific laboratories all over the world, particularly in the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand. This was the basis for the Human Genome Project, the plan sponsored by the US Government to map the entire sequence of human DNA. In other words, to deconstruct our genetic material as if it was a jigsaw and to understand the role of each of the pieces of which it comprises.

Identifying the pieces of our genome led to a new way of interpreting biomedicine, making it possible to develop new medicines and treatments and to revolutionise the diagnosis process. So much so that today it is regarded as one of the greatest developments in modern science.

During this period the same process took place for other living beings: from bacteria and little worms through to flies and – why not – plant species. All of this had a major impact particularly on the agro-industrial sector.

The fact that the genetic engineering of plants results in the development of crops that are more productive, more resistant to disease and parasites, and less subject to environmental stress (such as drought) is certainly not a new development. The changes that have been seen in the last few years regard the instruments that are now available to us to explore and modify the long DNA jigsaw. One in particular can be considered as the most advanced, safe, practical and versatile method of manipulating the genetic material of living beings. Its name is Crispr (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and we are going to be hearing a lot more about it.

What is Crispr?
It is a system of proteins that scientists metaphorically refer to as a “Swiss army knife” for literally cutting and sticking back together the genome, a process otherwise known as gene editing. Equipped with a positioning compass to locate the right point, a vice to grip the DNA chain and scissors to cut it, there is no better way of describing Crispr.

Silencing a faulty gene that causes illness or inserting a new genetic sequence which gives a living being an unprecedented trait, quickly and while containing costs: this is the potential of this almost surgical method of editing DNA. Which – since 2012, the year of its “birth” – has already been used in thousands of scientific research projects on all types of organisms.

Its applications, the experts assure us, are infinite: in the animal kingdom fighting against cancer or genetic illnesses; in the plant kingdom beating parasites and creating super-plants with unprecedented survival capacities. By applying Crispr to the right genes, many plant species will be able to grow faster, produce more fruit and not wither or go bad after harvest. And if you think such goals are a long way off then think again. Many of the potentialities of Crispr are already being developed. And they promise to produce results in the near future.

Tomatoes, potatoes, vineyards and gene editing
One of the most emblematic cases is that of the tomato plants of the Cold Harbor Laboratory in New York. Over the centuries farmers had managed to select plants which, compared with wild ones, were more resistant to fruit dropping, the cause of bruising and far less bountiful harvests. These plants were also most suited to mechanical harvesting. The flipside of the coin was that these plants also proved to be the least productive, producing more branches and flowers that made harvesting difficult. A real backwards step. After several decades and once they had identified the genetic coordinates connected with this problem, the New York scientists intervened in a pinpoint manner (with Crispr), finding the most suitable compromise.

There are also projects that seek to obtain agricultural products with better nutritional properties, for example. One experiment is being carried out on potatoes by a team of researchers from the University of California Davis. The idea is to create tubers with a lower glycemic index compared with conventional potatoes and therefore more suitable for containing the risk of diabetes or obesity.

Another interesting area is winemaking. For example, a team of researchers from State University of New Jersey is working on a project to genetically modify grapevines and make them less susceptible to pathogens and the imbalances of the weather. Crispr has paved the way for grapevines that are resistant to fungal infections and, at the same time, less sensitive to the problem of drought. The final product will inevitably be produced in greater quantities but will also benefit in terms of quality.