New strains would remove proteins that can cause toxic reactions for some

By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press

Scientists are developing wheat for people who can't digest gluten -- and in the process they hope to make wheat that's more healthful for everyone.

Arcadia Biosciences LLC, of Davis, Calif., recently received a two-year, $885,500 grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop wheat for people with celiac disease.

The disease causes a toxic reaction to gluten and damages the small intestine so the food cannot be absorbed, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation. One in 200 people in the United States has the disease.

Washington State University researcher Diter Von Wettstein, who has worked in partnership with Arcadia, said efforts are not to create a gluten-free wheat, since gluten is a mixture of proteins in the grain of wheat.

Instead, Von Wettstein and Arcadia are working to eliminate some proteins in wheat called low-molecular glutenins and gliadins, the major culprits in celiac disease. Those proteins can be eliminated naturally by DNA modification in the wheat plant.

After two years of work, researchers pinpointed the genes for the enzyme that creates the gliadins and glutenins in grains. They want to deactivate them in wheat varieties through genetic modification, Von Wettstein said. The proteins are unnecessary for baking.

Removal of the gliadins and low-molecular glutenins will make wheat more healthful for everybody, he said. It would raise the percentage of the amino acid lysine, essential for human nutrition and lacking in today's wheats.

"We aim at being able to obtain the first celiac-safe wheat plants in two to five years for animal and clinical testing," Von Wettstein said.

The researchers' most urgent needs are facilities to grow wheat plants for experiments far away from insects and other pests. The applications of pesticides make wheat plants unusable for genetic transformation and breeding. The growth chambers need decontaminated air and facilities to prevent contamination by personnel handling the plants, Von Wettstein said.