Chloroplast Genome Editing Eliminates Gluten Immunogenicity in Triticum aestivum
Sanchez-Leon S, Gil-Humanes J, Barro F
Crispr
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste or texture they've been missing.
Bread wheat contains certain proteins that cause an immune reaction in people with celiac disease, making them very sick when they eat regular bread. Researchers used a precise gene-editing tool to switch off the genes responsible for making those harmful proteins, removing 97% of them. The edited wheat still grew normally in fields and made flour that baked just as well as ordinary wheat.
Key Findings
Gene editing reduced harmful immunogenic proteins in bread wheat by 97%, nearly eliminating the celiac disease trigger.
Immune cells from celiac disease patients showed no reaction when exposed to flour from the edited wheat lines.
Field crop yields from edited wheat were within 2% of unmodified wheat, confirming no meaningful agricultural trade-off.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists used gene editing to remove nearly all the proteins in bread wheat that trigger celiac disease, while keeping the wheat's baking properties intact and field yields essentially unchanged.
Abstract Preview
Plastid-targeted CRISPR editing of alpha-gliadin genes in bread wheat reduced immunogenic epitopes by 97% while maintaining baking quality. T-cell assays from celiac patients showed no immune respo...
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Wheat is a group of wild and domesticated grasses of the genus Triticum. As cereals, they are cultivated for their grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known wheat species and hybrids include the most widely grown common wheat, spelt, durum, emmer, einkorn, and Khorasan or Kamut....