Horizon Scanning - Project Genetic Engineering and the Environment

During the horizon scanning process, scientific publications are screened and evaluated to identify and analyze possible environmental effects of new technical developments and their applications in the field of genetic engineering/biotechnology considering the precautionary principle. The results of the horizon scanning are made available to the public in form of short summaries. It is an ongoing collection of current literature that does not claim to be complete and is continuously updated.
The current focus of the horizon scanning process can be found → here and a glossary with explanations of the most important terms can be found → here

De novo domestication of wild tomato using genome editing

20. September 2020

In this study, CRISPR/Cas9 was used to alter six genes in a wild tomato species that were found to be important for the yield and nutritional content of domesticated tomatoes. Six genes of the wild tomatoes were changed which resulted in an alteration of their shape, size, the number of fruits and the nutrient content. […]

A CRISPR–Cas9 gene drive targeting doublesex causes complete population suppression in caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes

20. September 2020

Scientists at the Imperial College London have developed a CRISPR/Cas-based gene drive in Anopheles gambiae that aims to modify a gene called doublesex. Doublesex plays an important role during embryonic development: it is crucial for whether mosquitoes develop as females or as males. The result of the change mediated by the gene drive is the […]

Creating a functional single-chromosome yeast.

20. September 2020

The genome of the model yeast organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae consists of 16 chromosomes. Using CRISPR/Cas9 scientists created a yeast strain that contains a single chromosome that was generated by successive end-to-end fusions of the 16 chromosomes and by deletions of the centromeres. It is the first synthetically generated yeast strain that consists of one linear […]