Genome Editing A New Hope For Farmers – Dr. Francis Djankpa explains

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Dr. Francis Djankpa, a physiologist at the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has said genome editing allows scientists to precisely alter genes, either by inserting, deleting, or modifying DNA sequences.

Speaking to Nana Kwabena Addo on Radio1’s Ghana Akuafo he said, “Genome editing application can be in basic research, medicine, and agriculture.”

Dr. Francis added that genome editing can occur naturally but it takes a longer period.

For instance in agriculture, “there can be a yellow corn among white corn. When this happens the genome of the corn has been altered naturally. Scientists then copy the formula of the yellow corn and that of the white corn and put it together as a new variety.”

He further spoke on the challenges associated with GMOs which have now been replaced by new technology genome editing.

According to him, “in Genetically Modified Organisms, (GMO) if one wants the color of his maize to be that of a watermelon, genes is taken from the watermelon and then fused with the maize to get the color of the watermelon but in genome editing, we will alter or change some genes in the maize to get the desired result without fusing it with watermelon.”

Dr. Francis said genome editing is an improved technology of GMO and has been used in other East African countries but Ghana is yet to roll out the program.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is spearheading the program and wants to give enough education to Ghanaian farmers before the program is rolled out. Genome editing is a new technology to improve our crop yield, control pests, and improve our agriculture as well.

A genome is the complete set of genetic material present in an organism or a cell. It contains all the information needed for an organism’s growth, development, functioning, and reproduction.

The genome is like an instruction manual for building and operating an organism. Genome editing is a technique used to modify the DNA sequence of an organism’s genome.

Source: Radiooneghana.com/Armah Paulina