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AirTalk

Gene-edited foods are hitting grocery shelves early next year. And no, they’re not the same as GMOs

By AirTalk Staff
Published Nov 15, 2018
Scientists have used a popular gene editing tool called CRISPR to snip out a tiny piece of DNA from one particular gene in a white button mushroom. The resulting mushroom doesn't brown when cut.
Scientists have used a popular gene editing tool called CRISPR to snip out a tiny piece of DNA from one particular gene in a white button mushroom. The resulting mushroom doesn't brown when cut.
(
Adam Fagen/Flickr Creative Commons
)
Listen 9:31
Gene-edited foods are hitting grocery shelves early next year. And no, they’re not the same as GMOs

Gene-edited foods could hit grocery shelves as early as next year, according to the Associated Press.

Examples of the types of foods being produced? Healthier soybean oil, mushrooms that don’t brown or citrus that’s resistant to diseases like citrus greening.

These DNA-edited foods are created using CRISPR and TALENs, different technologies from what’s used to make GMOs. The advances from gene-editing have the potential to make food hardier and healthier, but there is sure to be suspicion from consumers, as well as questions about how the USDA and FDA will regulate these types of products.

Guest:

Alan McHughen, professor of molecular genetics at UC Riverside; he is the author of "Pandora's Picnic Basket: The Potential and Hazards of Genetically Modified Foods" (Oxford University Press, 2000)