Chilean researchers develop genetically edited kiwis and tomatoes resistant to drought and salinity

After 14 years of drought, Chile welcomes the winter rains with great relief. But several experts say that the water crisis in the country is far from being resolved and that it is essential to promote initiatives that help mitigate the effects of climate change. Biotechnology is presented as an ally to develop crops resistant to drought and salinity, among other climate challenges. In 2020, a group of scientists from the University of Chile started a project called 'PlantaComCiencia', to find viable and effective solutions to the effects of climate change through the development of tomato and kiwi varieties resistant to extreme conditions. Claudia Stange, researcher at the Center for Molecular Biology of Plants at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Chile and director of the project, highlights that “these biotechnological gene editing tools allow us to develop new plant varieties in half the time, compared to the non-biotechnological techniques that are commonly used”. ...