Crop Biotech Update

Gene Editing of Medicinal Plant Enhances Active Compounds

January 17, 2024

Photo by: Sudaroviyam in flickr

Scientists used CRISPR-Cas9 on Red Sage to boost its capability as a medicinal plant. Their research may help patients with heart disease.

Red Sage, or Salvia miltiorrhiza, is a herb that is used to treat cardiovascular diseases. The plant has bioactive compounds, such as phenolic acids and diterpenoid tanshinones, which promote good health to people. However, there are genes that regulate these bioactive compounds in the plant.

To optimize the potential of Red Sage, researchers from different institutions in Taiwan used CRISPR-Cas9 to cause mutagenesis to a few transcription factor genes that regulate the biosynthesis of the bioactive compounds in S. miltiorrhiza. Due to the mutation, the contents of active compounds in the plant were significantly elevated.

Read the journal article on Plant Biotechnology Journal for more information.


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