Everything Science Forum

I read this this morning.

Wheat's lost gene helps nutrition
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6179912.stm

Turning on a gene found in wheat could boost levels of protein, iron and zinc, scientists have discovered.

The gene occurs naturally in wheat, but has largely been silenced during the evolution of domestic varieties.

Researchers found evidence that turning it back on could raise levels of the nutrients in wheat grains.

Writing in the journal Science, they suggest that new varieties with a fully functioning gene can be created through cross-breeding with wild wheat.

"Wheat is one of the world's major crops, providing approximately one-fifth of all calories consumed by humans," said project leader Professor Jorge Dubcovsky from the University of California at Davis.

"Therefore, even small increases in wheat's nutritional value may help decrease deficiencies in protein and key micronutrients."

'Spectacular' results

The researchers identified a gene called GPC-B1, GPC standing for Grain Protein Content.

It is found in both wild and domesticated varieties of wheat, but in subtly different forms, indicating that it has been changed by the long history of domestication.

Modifying crops for volume has apparently reduced nutrition!  Now that is stupid!  >:(  ::)  :P

Crossing Wild and Conventional Wheat Boosts Protein, Avoids Genetic Modification (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=0CDE8682-E7F2-99DF-35261FF74C7B6D86&ref=rss)

Humanity has been growing wheat as a staple crop for thousands of years, and we currently grow 620 million tons of the grain annually. During that span, however, its nutrition has largely not improved; in fact, it may have declined. But by returning to wheat's wild roots, researchers have found a gene that will boost the grain's nutritional value by speeding up its life span.

Wheat breeder Jorge Dubcovsky of the University of California, Davis, led an international team that discovered the gene-- dubbed gpc-B1 for its effect on grain protein content--in a wild emmer wheat that has grown naturally in the Middle East for millennia. His colleague Cristobel Uauy examined cultivated wheat breeds and discovered they all shared a nonworking copy of this gene. By inserting a cloned version of the wild gene into conventional wheat plants they boosted the amount of protein, zinc and iron in the grain by 10 to 15 percent. The gene works by making the plant mature more rapidly, thus speeding up the transfer of these nutrients from the leaves to the grain.