Researchers at the University of Queensland have successfully used CRISPR gene editing to develop wheat varieties that maintain yield under drought conditions that would normally cause significant crop losses.

The modified wheat showed 25% higher yields than conventional varieties in three consecutive years of field trials in Queensland’s Western Downs region, one of Australia’s most important grain-growing areas.

What makes this significant is that the research targeted multiple genes simultaneously. Previous attempts at drought-tolerant crops often focused on single genes, producing plants that performed well in controlled conditions but disappointed in real-world trials.

Professor Lee Hickey, who led the research, explained that drought tolerance is a complex trait involving dozens of genes. “We used gene editing to fine-tune several pathways at once, affecting root architecture, stomatal behaviour, and stress signalling. It’s more like adjusting multiple dials than flipping a single switch.”

The wheat varieties were developed using CRISPR-Cas9 to make precise modifications to the plants’ own genes rather than introducing foreign DNA. That’s an important distinction for regulatory purposes. In many jurisdictions, including Australia, gene-edited plants that don’t contain foreign DNA face a lighter regulatory burden than traditional GMOs.

Australia’s gene technology regulator, the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR), updated its regulations in 2023 to clarify that certain gene editing techniques wouldn’t be classified as GMO if they could theoretically be achieved through conventional breeding.

The regulatory change opened the door for faster commercialisation of gene-edited crops. The UQ wheat varieties could potentially reach farmers by 2027 or 2028, compared to the 15-20 year timeline typical for conventionally bred drought-tolerant varieties.

Drought tolerance matters enormously for Australian agriculture. The country’s grain belt experiences highly variable rainfall, and recent decades have seen more frequent droughts. The 2019-2020 drought, one of the most severe on record, cut wheat production by nearly 50%.

Climate projections suggest rainfall variability will increase, making drought tolerance increasingly valuable. Even modest improvements in drought resilience could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually to Australian grain growers.

The field trials tested the wheat under various water stress conditions, from mild to severe. The gene-edited varieties maintained yield advantage across that range, though the benefit was most pronounced under moderate drought stress.

Interestingly, the plants showed no yield penalty under well-watered conditions, addressing a common problem with stress-tolerant crops that sometimes underperform when conditions are favourable.

The research team is now working with Australian Grain Technologies, a commercial wheat breeding company, to incorporate the drought tolerance modifications into elite wheat varieties that farmers actually want to grow. It’s not enough to have drought tolerance; the wheat also needs good disease resistance, acceptable grain quality, and other traits that determine whether farmers will adopt it.

One challenge is public acceptance. Gene-edited crops face less opposition than traditional GMOs in Australia, but some consumer groups remain skeptical. Major supermarket chains have been cautious about stocking gene-edited products, though that’s starting to change.

The UQ research received funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), which invests around $200 million annually in grain research. GRDC sees gene editing as a key technology for Australian grain competitiveness.

Dr. Sarah Morrison, an agricultural economist at Monash University, said the economic case for drought-tolerant wheat is strong if farmers adopt it widely. “Water stress reduces Australian wheat yields by 30-40% in a typical drought year. Even a partial solution to that problem is worth pursuing.”

The gene editing approach used at UQ is also being applied to other crops. Researchers are developing drought-tolerant barley, heat-tolerant canola, and disease-resistant chickpeas using similar techniques.

Gene editing doesn’t replace conventional breeding; it accelerates it. Breeders can now make specific genetic changes in one or two generations rather than spending years crossing and selecting plants hoping to get the right combination of traits.

That speed matters when you’re trying to adapt crops to changing climate conditions. Evolution happens too slowly to keep up with the pace of climate change, so human intervention through technologies like gene editing may be necessary to maintain agricultural productivity.

The wheat varieties still need to pass through variety registration trials, which test performance across multiple locations and years. Assuming those trials succeed, seed multiplication and distribution could begin by 2028.

Whether Australian farmers embrace gene-edited crops will depend partly on market access. Some export markets, particularly in Asia, have restrictions on GMOs that might extend to gene-edited products. Grains industry groups are working on regulatory clarity in key export markets to avoid trade disruptions.

For now, the UQ research represents a proof of concept that gene editing can deliver meaningful improvements in drought tolerance. Whether it translates to widespread adoption depends on regulatory, market, and social factors beyond the science.