Aflatoxin, created by a fungus, “is one of the most potent toxins on the planet,” says Monica Schmidt of the University of Arizona, leader of a study on how to avoid crop loss to the toxin. Researchers developed a GMO corn variety with small RNA molecules that prevent the aspergillus fungus from creating the fungus in kernels of corn.
Hot and humid conditions favor growth of the fungus, which can cause liver cancer, stunt child growth and reduce immunity to disease. Aflatoxin is a problem worldwide. Industrialized countries use tests and regulation to keep contaminated crops out of the food supply but in developing nations, safeguards are weak and dietary options are limited.
Schmidt and her team used a technique to disrupt the exchange of small nucleic acid molecules between the fungus and the corn plant during the process of infection. “We introduced an engineered DNA construct into the corn that passes the RNA into the fungus when it infects the corn … When the kernels come in contact with the fungus, the RNA moves over into the fungus” and stops production of aflatoxin. When the researchers infected corn with the fungus, the transgenic plants showed no detectable levels of aflatoxin in the grain.