Hidden Hunger
Micronutrient deficiencies, also known as hidden hunger, currently affect over two billion people around the world. Hidden hunger stems not from lack of food, but from a lack of vitamins and micronurients, even in diets that seem sufficient in calories. Seeds, the basis for much of our diet, are rich in energy but often poor in essential vitamins like:
- provitamin A
- folate
- vitamin E
Our Project:
In our project, we aim to unlock this natural potential of seeds by engineering the promoters of key genes for vitamin biosynthesis from soybean, including provitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin B9
- Step One: First, in order to predict the gene expression pattern in seeds by their promoter sequence, we trained a Convolutional Neural Network model using a set of both seed and non-seed specific gene promoters from genome and transcriptomic data. Therefore, we can simulate mutations in native gene promoters and predict whether that mutation can increase the gene expression in seeds.
- Step Two: As a visible proof of concept, we introduced a RUBY reporter system. When a mutated promoter can successfully activate the target gene, it produces a red pigment in the seed so we can see the activation in real time. We are currently testing this in Arabidopsis, a model plant widely used in plant research.
- Step Three: Eventually, prime editing on those promoters will be performed to enhance crop nutritional value without introducing foreign genes.