John van der Oost received the Spinoza award in 2018 for his ground-breaking research on CRISPR-Cas technology. This is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. "I am aware that we must take care not to promise too much, but if we aim to provide the increasing world population with sufficient food on a planet with a rapidly changing climate, we must move full-steam ahead to improve crops rapidly, precisely and safely."
Climate change calls for measures to make crops more resilient against drought, disease and plagues, to ensure the food supply is sufficient for the increasing global population. Wageningen scientists have discovered the basic principles behind the CRISPR-Cas technology, which enables the precise modification of crops. Wageningen University & Research will…
What if tomatoes grew deeper roots, so that they could thrive in dry regions? Would we be able to better feed the increasing global population? The CRISPR-Cas technology that enables such adjustments is much more precise than the typical selective breeding method, and the adjustments are comparable to spontaneous natural…
CRISPR-Cas is a technique that allows the quick and easy alteration of genes. This technique has undergone a rapid development. This leads to the question: what do we want to achieve with CRISPR-Cas?