GM walnuts could soon hit the supermarket shelves, after scientists at the University of California developed a way to modify the roots of the walnut tree to enable them to fight infection from a bug called Agrobacterium.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Agrobacterium causes cancerous growth that invades the plants’ DNA.
Abhaya Dandekar, who headed the team of researchers, developed tree roots that contained versions of the tumour-causing genes, which acted as a kind of built in vaccine to Agrobacterium.
The team employed a standard cultivation technique to ensure that the nuts produced by the tree are not themselves genetically altered. New Scientist explained: “In this case, non-GM plants would be grafted onto modified roots without the two sets of genes mixing.”
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData
