How can gene editing make rice safe, delicious and healthy?

How can we choose rice to our satisfaction? It is understood that my country's rice can be roughly divided into: indica rice, japonica rice, and glutinous rice, and the main components are starch. The lower the content of amylose in rice, the stickier the rice. The amylose content of glutinous rice endosperm is generally less than 2%. The amylose content of japonica rice endosperm is generally 14-18%, while the amylose content of indica rice endosperm is generally greater than 20%.

But if a person wants good sticky indica rice, is it possible? Don't worry, this problem has been solved by gene editing technology. In the past 36 years, the team of Academician Qian Qian, Director of the Institute of Crop Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Deputy Director of the Chinese Academy of Rice Research Institute, and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, has discovered nearly 50,000 gene function research and genetic analysis materials. Through genetic research, 25 genes that determine the taste of rice and are related to starch metabolism have been discovered, and the key gene for regulating the content of "amylose" has been found: Du1; the "Guangliangyou" series of varieties with the characteristics of "indica rice yield and japonica rice quality" have been successfully cultivated.

The Wx gene in rice controls the content of amylose. The team led by Liu Qiaoqun, vice president of Yangzhou University, used gene editing technology to adjust its expression level and cultivated new rice varieties with extremely low amylose content, which also improved the glutinous quality of the rice.

Nowadays, aroma is considered an important quality indicator of rice. The BADH2 gene in rice inhibits the production of aroma. Gao Caixia's team at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences used gene editing technology to knock out this gene. The rice grown in this way has a "fragrant" aroma after being cooked.

It is understood that nutritious rice bran oil can be extracted from rice bran. This oil contains valuable monounsaturated fatty acid - oleic acid. It is a nutritious and healthy oil recognized both at home and abroad. Can gene editing technology be used to increase the content of oleic acid? Of course it can. Scientists have found that the FAD2-1 gene in rice inhibits the production of oleic acid in rice bran. By deleting the FAD2-1 gene in rice using gene editing technology, the content of oleic acid in rice bran can be increased by more than two times. In this way, both grain and good oil can be produced, and farmers have a good way to increase their income!

For today's consumers, they not only want to eat well, but also want to eat healthily. In the past, many soils containing heavy metal cadmium could not grow rice. However, gene editing technology knocked out the gene that likes to absorb cadmium ions in the soil, and rice will not absorb cadmium! Speaking of this, we have to thank Academician Yuan Longping again. It was he who announced the breakthrough in rice parent cadmium removal technology.

The storage of rice after harvest is very important. Now it is found that there is a LOX3 gene that controls the period of mildew and deterioration of rice. If the LOX3 gene is knocked out through gene editing technology, the rice will forget when it will mildew and deteriorate, and the storage period can be greatly extended. In short, gene editing technology is a pair of "magic scissors"! This technology not only brings security to our rice bowls, but also provides support for national food security!

Scientific text: Mao Zhiming and Wang Chun

Producer: Cheng Weihong, Zhan Zhao

Coordinators: Xu Qin, Song Yajuan, Zhao Qingjian

Planning copywriter: Song Yajuan Zhang Fan