Key Takeaways:
- A collaborative effort between British Sugar, Tropic, and the John Innes Centre receives significant funding to address virus yellows disease in sugar beets.
- The project is supported by Innovate UK’s Farming Futures R&D Fund and Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, highlighting a strategic approach to agricultural innovation.
- A total project budget of £1m, with £663,443 grant funded, aims to leverage gene-editing technologies for crop resilience and sustainability.
- Tropic’s GEiGSⓇ technology is central to the strategy, introducing genetic changes for enhanced disease resistance.
- Initiative expected to bolster productivity and sustainability for the British sugar beet industry, contributing to net-zero emissions goals.
Strategic Funding for Genetic Resilience
The British sugar beet industry will benefit from a new collaborative project to protect the crop from the devastating effects of virus yellows disease. The initiative brings together the expertise of British Sugar, Tropic, the John Innes Centre, and the support of the British Beet Research Organisation, underpinned by funding from Innovate UK’s Farming Futures Research and Development Fund and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Farming Innovation Programme.
With a total budget of £1m, of which £663,443 is grant-funded by Defra, the project underscores a significant investment in the future of sustainable agriculture in the UK. The project partners provide the remainder of the funding, showcasing a commitment to innovation and resilience in the face of agricultural challenges.
Leveraging Gene-Editing for Disease Resistance
Professor Steven Penfield, leading the initiative at the John Innes Centre, shared his perspective on the importance of this investment: “This welcome investment recognizes the role of the John Innes Centre as a national capability in developing and applying precision breeding approaches such as gene editing to crop protection.”
The project aims to utilize Tropic’s Gene editing-induced Gene Silencing (GEiGSⓇ) technology to instigate minimal yet precise genetic modifications to enhance the sugar beet’s natural defenses against virus yellows. This disease, transmitted by aphids, has historically had a profound impact on the UK’s sugar industry, threatening the livelihoods of farmers and the overall productivity of the sector.
Ofir Meir, Chief Technology Officer at Tropic, elaborated on the GEiGS® technology’s potential: “The GEiGS® technology…is a game-changing platform allowing us to develop improved varieties of sugar beet that are better able to withstand disease – and environmental – pressures to enable much more sustainable cropping practices.”
Sustainable Outcomes and Industry Support
This sugar beet research project aims to protect against the virus and yellows disease and enhance the sustainability and resilience of the British sugar beet farming sector. Successful outcomes from this initiative are expected to support the industry’s progression towards net-zero emissions and develop broader capabilities in sugar beet gene editing within the UK.
The effort aligns with recent legislative developments, such as the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, which provides a regulatory framework supporting precision breeding technologies.
Dan Green, British Sugar Agriculture Director, expressed enthusiasm about the project’s implications: “We are delighted to have been awarded this funding, which will help us make great strides in our work towards protecting the sugar beet crop from virus yellows disease…”
