World Agrochemical Network Chinese website reported: Recently, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) and The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) announced that a waxy corn product will be included in the list of genome editing products. Products on this list are exempt from Japan's genetically modified food, feed and biodiversity regulations. This is the fourth genome-editing product to make the list, and the first to be developed by a non-Japanese company.
As of March 2023, MHLW and MAFF have included four types of products in their genome editing product lists, namely high gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) tomato, high-yielding sea bream, fast-growing tiger puffer fish, and waxy corn.
DowDuPont Corteva Agriscience has used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to develop the genome-edited waxy maize, targeted deletion of the waxy gene, and increased the proportion of amylopectin in starch to nearly 100%. In traditional corn, starch is usually composed of 75% amylopectin and 25% amylose. In addition to the food industry, pullulan is also used in the textile and paper industries.
Source：AgroPages
