British scientists will grow a new type of healthier wheat using a form of gene editing in a ground-breaking experiment.
The wheat will be genetically edited using a tool known as Crispr which will remove levels of asparagine, a naturally occurring amino acid.
Asparagine converts into acrylamide, thought to be a carcinogenic, when the grain is made into bread or toast.
The trials, which will be the first in Europe, come as the government consults on whether to use post-Brexit freedoms to break with EU rules about genetic editing in farming.
The crop will be grown outside by Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire.
Project leader Professor Nigel Halford said the wheat would not be considered to be genetically modified (GM), The Times report.
GM was the term used to refer to crops where genes were transferred from one organism to another in a way that would not happen naturally.
Crispr is different because the changes could occur naturally. The genetic material of the plant is edited without new material being added.
Prof Halford said he wanted to produce wheat that was better for people without changing the taste.
In 2018 the EU Court of Justice ruled that Crispr-edited crops should be subject to the same regulations as conventional GM organisms.
A spokeswoman for Defra said: “We have the opportunity to make coherent policy decisions on gene editing based on current science and evidence.”
