‘Game changer.’ Scientists are genetically engineering crops to clone themselves

Plant breeders have long dreamed of an easier, more powerful way to create hybrid seed. In nature, some plant species reproduce clonally: The eggs inside their flowers become embryos without pollination, part of a process called apomixis—“away from mixing” in Greek. If researchers could genetically engineer crops to reproduce through apomixis, the process of creating the first hybrid generation might still be laborious. But then seed companies could much more easily propagate hybrid offspring.

For decades, scientists had limited success. But recent breakthroughs have brought the concept closer to reality. In 2019, an international team reported that it had successfully engineered a line of rice plants that could reproduce clonally—the first instance of synthetic apomixis in a crop. Groups around the world are working to develop apomictic varieties of sorghum, tomatoes, alfalfa, and other crops. There’s a palpable “sense of excitement” in the field, says Mary Gehring, a molecular biologist at the Whitehead Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies development in apomictic plants.

The technology won’t be ready to be commercialized for years. “There’s still an awful lot that we don’t understand about how to make it efficient for agriculture,” says Peggy Ozias-Akins, a geneticist at the University of Georgia. But seed companies are paying attention. Apomictic reproduction would simplify how they produce hybrid seeds, quicken the release of new varieties, and reduce costs. The technology could also benefit smallholder farmers in poorer countries who might not have regular access to commercial hybrid seeds, because they could save seeds produced by the previous year’s crop. “It really would be a big game changer,” says Adam Famoso, a rice breeder at Louisiana State University.

Read the original article in Science.