Aug 21, 2021 21:00:00

Research shows that genes responsible for obesity promote crop growth, resulting in triple rice yields

In recent years, the number of countries and regions suffering from food shortages due to the spread of coronavirus infection and climate change has increased rapidly, and research and development such as crop breeding and utilization of microorganisms are being carried out as measures against food shortages. .. Meanwhile, a Chinese research team succeeded in promoting the growth of crops by incorporating genes that cause human obesity into crops.

RNA demethylation increases the yield and biomass of rice and potato plants in field trials | Nature Biotechnology
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-00982-9

Researchers Transfer a Human Protein Into Plants to Supersize Them | Innovation | Smithsonian Magazine
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/researchers-transfer-human-protein-plants-supersize-them-180978443/

The gene used by the research team this time is called the FTO gene, and it is thought that animals carrying the FTO gene have lower energy consumption efficiency and ability to suppress appetite. According to Chuan He , a member of the research team, plants do not have the FTO gene, so we decided to incorporate the FTO gene into crops and observe the effects. 'It's a bold and strange idea,' He said. 'To be honest, we expected the FTO gene to have a devastating effect on crops.'

As a result of the experiment, it was clarified that the crops incorporating the FTO gene promoted the growth as compared with the normal crops. In the photo below, the left side is rice harvested from normal rice, and the right side is rice harvested from rice with the FTO gene incorporated. The research team says that rice with the FTO gene was able to harvest three times as much rice as normal rice.

And the following is a normal potato on the left side and a potato with the FTO gene integrated on the right side. As with rice, potatoes can produce more food by incorporating the FTO gene.

Efforts have been made to increase food production using genetically modified technology, but research results have also been announced that 'genetically modified organisms cannot increase food production by more than 10%.' I did. However, the research team said, 'Crops incorporating the FTO gene grew 50% larger than normal crops.' 'The FTO gene is a special gene. Other genes probably won't work.' Is appealing that it may contribute to solving food shortages.

According to the research team, this research is only in the early stages, and he says that he will continue research to elucidate the mechanism by which the FTO gene promotes crop growth in the future.