Reengineering Life

Scientists Used Gene Editing to Make Super Corn

The resulting crop could be more sustainable than current varieties

Photo illustration source: EyeEm/Getty Images

Reengineering Life is a column from Future Human about the ways humans are using biology to reprogram our bodies and the world around us.

Thanks to selective breeding over the course of some 9,000 years, humans were able to transform an ancient wild grass with dinky cobs and a handful of kernels into the sweet, juicy corn we know today.

More recently, scientists have used genetic engineering to further transform the crop, resulting in pest-resistant corn. Now, researchers think gene editing — which is far more precise than traditional genetic engineering — could improve corn even more. In a recent study published in Nature Plants, researchers used gene editing to increase the number of kernels on ears of corn.

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The researchers think the strategy could lead to more sustainable crops, which would be a boon for the United States, where more than 90 million acres…