New podcast explores the future of gene-edited foods

A CRISPR Bite is a brand-new show that explores the future of gene-edited foods and the breakthrough CRISPR technology.

CRISPR gene-editing technology was a biotech breakthrough in the last decade, but most people have still never heard of it.

In this five-part series, food anthropologist Dr Lauren Crossland-Marr takes listeners into the labs where researchers are tinkering with food genes, to help break down the problems they’re hoping to solve – and what’s at stake.

Each episode looks at a specific food to demonstrate the impact. Starting with an intro to CRISPR, the podcast ranges from Japan’s gene-edited stress-relieving tomatoes to Missouri’s eco-friendly soybeans, California’s vineyards combating harmful bacteria, and into the debate on gene-edited animals. While it sounds like science fiction, we’re told it’s our present and our future.

“What many people don’t realize is that gene editing is found everywhere in our food system and that new technologies like CRISPR will greatly change the way we produce food and the way we eat it,” says Dr Lauren Crossland-Marr.

CRISPR has been at the forefront of gene-editing technology since 2015 and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2020. It is full of possibilities in many aspects of our world, but for most people the first place they’ll encounter it is in their food. The first gene-edited foods are hitting grocery store shelves this year.

A CRISPR Bite launches on 27 September and will release episodes weekly.