The Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board has approved more than $2.1 million in funding for a dozen research projects. A project out of Oregon State University looks to evaluate the potential of using CRISPR Cas9 technology to integrate powdery mildew resistance into grapevines. Chair of the PD/GWSS Board, Steve McIntyre said the project builds on work performed by Dr. David Tricoli from UC Davis.
“It turns out plant cells unlike human cells have a membrane that is impervious to the CRISPR technology. Dr. Tricoli has figured out a way to mitigate that or allow the CRISPR gene editing to take place in plant cells. So that’s really exciting,” McIntyre noted. “Since he’s been able to do that, that allows the Oregon team to proceed with their work.”
Listen to the radio work below.
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