🌾 Polish researchers undress the barley corn 🇪🇺 The European Parliament will vote this week on how New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) are regulated in plant breeding, and that's a big deal. As science-driven environmentalists, we at the Eco-Progressive Network are genuinely excited about what these tools can do for more sustainable farming and healthier food. So while everyone's looking at the topic, we want to show what's already possible. On our CRISPR Library we collect real scientific projects from across the EU and around the world, each using NGTs to improve crops in its own way. 🇵🇱 Today, we talk about a naked barley corn Domesticated barley varieties typically produce hulled grains in which the pericarp is inseparably attached to the caryopsis. This complicates processing and increases the energy and resource requirements at the mill. For this reason, barley is rarely used for human consumption, despite its excellent nutritional properties. Studies on "naked barley" have identified the responsible gene locus, nud. A research team from Poland has successfully modified this gene locus using CRISPR/Cas, so that the husks are easily separated from the grain during threshing. New varieties with naked grains could thus be processed directly, but their use is not yet permitted in the EU. To ensure that such innovations are put into practice, the EU needs science-based policies that enable the use of NGTs in agriculture. Dear members of the European Parliament: #GiveGenesAChance! 👉 Meet the barley corn: progressive-agrarwende.org/c… 📚 Explore the full CRISPR Library: progressive-agrarwende.org/c…

Right now anti-gene editing groups are lobbying MEPs to block crucial innovation that will make European agriculture more sustainable. Next week the European Parliament will make a final vote on legislation governing the use of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). Send a message that they should back innovation and modern sustainable agriculture. Sign our petition: act.weplanet.org/p/eu-suppor…