In previous articles, we've highlighted GMOs engineered for new and unusual colors, such as the GMO purple tomato, which gets its color from a snapdragon gene, or the Pinkglow pineapple, which produces pink flesh due to the insertion of a gene from a tangerine.
These GMOs are just the tip of a very colorful iceberg. Biotechnology developers are exploring new target organisms, hues and functions with a variety of bright and light GMOs.
Prism break: GMO developers show their true colors
Dye-free cotton
Researchers at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) engineered cotton plants to produce different-colored fibers, reducing the need for synthetic dyes. The team focused on developing cotton that grows black fibers. GMO cotton can have a food system impact due to the use of cottonseed in animal feed, though it's not yet clear if this particular GMO may impact that supply chain.
Dye-free synthetic leather
In London, researchers at the Imperial College's Department of Bioengineering developed a GMO bacteria that produces self-dying synthetic leather. As of April 2024, researchers were trying to improve the GMO leather's durability and color-fastness. The team is also working on a version that changes color in response to blue light so that a pattern or logo can be projected onto the material to trigger the light-sensitive pigment.
Color-boosted crops
GMO developers led by a scientist from the University of Copenhagen are exploring gene editing's potential to enhance the color of cultivated crops to make autonomous weeding easier and more precise. Manipulating a crop's anthocyanin or carotenoid production could make it easier for machines to differentiate between crop and weed.
The RUBY gene
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, developed a synthetic gene that acts as a marker by synthesizing betalain, the compound that gives table beets their vivid red color. The RUBY gene may be used as an alternative to antibiotic-resistant or herbicide-resistant markers, which are common in genetic engineering but destroy some of the test cells. RUBY's creators used the gene to develop a GMO mustard plant that turns red in response to the pesticide azinphos-ethyl.
The shining: Lights — chimera — action!
Bioluminescence is the emission of light from living organisms. It is an evolutionary trait found in some plants and animals, such as fireflies, glow worms, jellyfish, sea anemones and certain fungi and bacteria.
Bioluminescence can also be engineered. In 1986, researchers at UC San Diego took a gene from a firefly and inserted it into a tobacco plant to create the first glowing GMO. In 2000, an art installation titled "GFP Bunny," based on a rabbit that glowed due to the insertion of a jellyfish protein, became a cultural touchstone. During the last 20 years, fluorescent zebra fish marketed as pets (aka GloFish), found their way into Brazil's Atlantic Forest streams, reproducing at will and raising concerns for the native species in the area. Researchers have recently used genes from bioluminescent fungi to engineer luminescence in other plants.
Bioluminescent sheep
In 2014, a genetically modified sheep carrying a jellyfish gene was born in France as part of a research project to study the function of transplants for heart disease. By mid-2015, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the GMO sheep was added to a shipment of non-GMO animals headed to an abattoir, possibly as an intentional act of sabotage by a lab employee. It's presumed that the GMO sheep then entered the food supply despite France's prohibition of genetically modified food products for direct human consumption.
Fungi genes for bioluminescence
In 2020, Russian biotech company Planta published their work on luminescent tobacco, an invention they believe could be useful in research and development. The team moved on to genetically modified periwinkles, petunias and roses, trying to enhance their brightness and vary their color.
Light Bio petunias
Idaho-based startup Light Bio is exploring the commercial application of glowing plants with their Firefly petunias, which carry a gene from bioluminescent fungi. The gentle illumination, which the company describes as "similar to moonlight," is currently marketed as a novelty. However, Light Bio sees potential in developing stronger light sources to illuminate interior spaces without electricity.
InnerPlant
California-based InnerPlant uses bioluminescence to develop GMO sensor plants that can quickly detect disease, pests or other environmental threats.
The company developed InnerSoy, a soybean plant engineered with jellyfish proteins, to signal fungal disease by turning a fluorescent color. InnerSoy recently completed the FDA's New Protein Consultation process and is being piloted in Southern Illinois. According to the company's website, InnerSoy's illumination can be detected by satellites, and the company's business plan includes an insight platform called CropVoice that combines "data from a network of InnerSoy plants and gives spray recommendations for fungal infection."
The Non-GMO Project’s Standard defines all crops and products developed using biotechnology, including new gene-editing techniques, as GMOs. We share this information to further one of the Project’s primary goals of creating greater transparency in the supply chain, ensuring you have the information you need to make the best choices for you, your brand, and your family.
Please note that the information herein is for general informational purposes only and is based on the linked sources above.
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