A concentrate of health in a single citrus fruit. A study by Crea Ofa (Olive, Fruit and Citrus Growing) conducted with the use of genome editing made it possible to produce varieties of oranges with Anthocyanins e lycopene, two of the most important bioactive antioxidants for human health (able to protect against numerous pathologies, from cardiovascular to cancer, from obesity to Parkinson's), but difficult to combine. The study was published in the international journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
What is genome editing
Il genome editing it allows you to change the basis of DNA, a bit like we do by correcting the words of a text on the computer. Many consider genome editing as the gene therapy of the future, since it would allow to correct a defective gene directly where it is without having to supply a healthy copy from the outside and to act on multiple points of the genome simultaneously, thus also working on diseases caused by mutations in multiple genes. The ability to precisely modify individual DNA bases becomes a fundamental tool not only for agriculture but also for medicine. Scientists from all over the world have begun to study its potential therapeutic applications in numerous fields, from rare genetic diseases (Duchenne muscular dystrophy, thalassemia, haemophilia B, X-SCID, cystic fibrosis), to tumors, passing through neurological diseases such as those from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to infectious diseases such as AIDS.
Super oranges: two antioxidants for the price of one
Starting from five different sweet oranges, pigmented varieties rich in anthocyanins have been produced which will be able, in the near future, to produce fruits which will also contain lycopene. In fact, through editing, the gene has been "turned off". beta cyclase, the metabolite which gives the orange color to fruit and vegetables, allowing oranges, already red due to the presence of anthocyanins, to also accumulate lycopene.
“In fact, these traits are difficult to combine through traditional breeding approaches. The most widespread and consumed citrus fruits have one or the other compound – explained the first researcher of Crea Ofa and coordinator of the work Concetta Licciardello -. Genome editing in citrus, which to date, had only been used to introduce resistance against citrus canker disease in grapefruit and sweet orange, was first used to make oranges with anthocyanins also produce lycopene."
