A new £1.5m facility which will use cutting edge techniques, such as gene-editing, to improve vegetable crops has opened at the Elizabeth Creak Horticultural Technology Centre (ECHTC).

Research at the centre will look at disease resistance, crop yield, adaptability to climate change and nutritional value in horticultural plants. The new centre is funded by philanthropic donations from the Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust and the estate of Jim Brewster, who was a research scientist at the former National Vegetable Research Station, in Wellesbourne.

It will be attached to the University of Warwick, which has responsibility for conserving genetic diversity of vegetable crops through collections of carrot, lettuce and onion seed, and joint responsibility for brassica collections, hosted by the UK Vegetable Gene Bank (UKVGB), at the University’s Wellesbourne Campus.

The centre will also train future research scientists in vegetable tissue culture and gene editing techniques, with Jim Brewster Scholarships awarded to PhD students working in the area of crop science.

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Murray Grant, the Elizabeth Creak chair of food security at the University of Warwick, commented: “With food one of the top issues on a global agenda and in the year that the Genetic Technology Bill is going through the UK Parliament, and opening up our ability to use gene editing technology, we have a pressing need to grow and harness skills and expertise to help us improve food systems, adapt to changing environments and help solve growing global problems.

“Gene editing is a process by which scientists, using prior knowledge, can make small modifications to an existing gene, or genes which can confer valuable traits in plants, such as disease resistance or enhanced drought tolerance.

"These changes simply target the plants genetic 'blueprint' without introducing any foreign material. Gene editing can shorten the usually long process of traditional plant breeding where varieties are crossed over many generations to achieve the same goal.

“Researchers at the ECHTC will be applying precision genetic editing approaches to key UK horticultural crops to improve disease resistance, enhance nutritional value and increase resilience to climate change. Aside from increased yields, there are significant environmental benefits to be gained by growing crops with reduced needs for pesticides and water.”

Paul May, a trustee for the Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust and Elizabeth Creak’s nephew, said: “Innovations in farming and horticulture were so important to Elizabeth, who was Warwickshire’s first female High Sheriff and ran a 2000-acre dairy farm in the county. I’m proud the centre established in her name will continue her legacy and address the important global challenge of food security.”