Sorghum is used for grain, fibre and fodder. It is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia Photo: USDA/Wikipedia

A second generation of transgenic sorghum seeds, known as ABS#2, have shown increased levels of nutrition over the previous generation.  The nine-member consortium of the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project have been working to develop a more nutritious and easily digestible sorghum. The recent seeds demonstrate increased levels of Vitamins A and E, amino acids (especially lysine), and iron and zinc.

The project, which aims to improve nutrition and health, is comprised of seven African and two US organisations. Dr Paul Anderson, the project’s principal investigator, outlines the aims of the research.  “A lot of sorghum transformation work has been carried out since the project started. Genes for three of the four intended nutrition improvement traits - protein quality, protein digestibility, and mineral availability - were transferred to sorghum, and they all seem to work as expected,” he said. “This is great success within a very short period of time.”

The modified sorghum holds potential to improve health in Africa, where deficiencies in essential micronutrients contribute to weakened immune systems, blindness, low birth weight and impaired neuropsychological development. The project also holds possibilities for African agriculture, with Dr Anderson noting: “The increase in targeted nutrients shows that the ambitious goals of the initial project are technologically feasible. This lays the foundation for the next challenge, which is to incorporate these technology breakthroughs in nutritionally-improved varieties for African farmers and consumers by careful field evaluation and the use of modern breeding methods.”

A permit has been granted for field evaluation of the second- generation seeds, which will begin in the US in January 2008. Permits are also planned for the contained evaluation of the seeds for African countries interested in the project.

The seeds resulted from research by South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Kenya Agricultural Institute (KARI) and scientists from DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred. It is supported by the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the US Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the Welcome Trust and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Further information on the ABS Project can be found at www.supersorghum.org.   
By Rebecca Debens

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