Gene-Edited Crops (CRISPR)

China's Ministry of Agriculture issued its first gene-editing safety certificate in April 2023 for a high-oleic-acid soybean by BellaGen. Since then, approvals have expanded to wheat (powdery mildew resistant), corn, and rice. The wheat approval is globally significant — no other country has approved gene-edited wheat for cultivation.

The driving policy is food security. China feeds 18% of the world's population with 7% of its arable land. Gene editing — distinct from transgenic GMOs — allows precise trait modifications without introducing foreign DNA, making regulatory approval faster and public acceptance higher.

The CAS-developed wheat uses CRISPR to knock out susceptibility genes for powdery mildew, a fungal disease that costs global wheat production $1 billion annually. The breakthrough demonstrated resistance without the yield penalties that plagued earlier attempts.