A research consortium led by South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has received a substantial international grant to explore an advanced method of nutritionally enhancing two of Africa’s major staple food crops without introducing any foreign genes to these plants.


The revolutionary method of altering the plant’s own genetic signals without introducing any foreign genes is based on nuclear radiation technology. The grant was awarded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a specialised agency of the United Nations.

Commenting on the grant, CSIR Biosciences Executive Director, Dr Gatsha Mazithulela, says: “The CSIR’s commitment to provide biosciences solutions for improving health and fighting diseases is aligned with the IAEA’s role in contributing to the Millennium Development Goals for social, economic and environmental development.” The IAEA promotes safe and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.

“In Africa, trends in child malnutrition, household food insecurity and poverty are moving in the wrong direction. Some crops grown in the region are also low in the major nutrients and vitamins. The CSIR’s aim is to improve the lives of people; our biosciences researchers are directing their scientific endeavours at improving the nutritional value of African staple crops. We believe all technologies should be explored as a means to achieve this, including conventional breeding, genetic engineering and nuclear science coupled with large-scale screening,” says Mazithulela.

The two-year grant, which is likely to be extended for another two years, will allow biotechnologists to conduct research on the modification of maize and sorghum by exposing plant material to radiation. Gamma rays cause random modification in endogenous biochemical pathways. The randomness of these changes results in broad genetic variability, which scientists could use to leverage other studies such as developing plants that are heat tolerant, drought tolerant and cold stress tolerant.

“This approach to develop new cultivars can be summarised as random-breeding, as opposed to traditional GMO techniques, where a specific gene with a very specific function is inserted into a plant. The CSIR also uses traditional GMO techniques-, for instance in a project aimed at improving the nutritional qualities of sorghum... Although a different technique is used, the objective is the same; there is an overlap in skills required in domains such as tissue culture, breeding and nutritional analysis methods,” comments Mazithulela.

The use of mutagenesis to generate genetic changes in crops is regarded as a powerful tool that can be implemented to improve the nutritional quality of these two African crops, which are deficient in proteins, vitamins and micronutrients. The project will introduce maize and sorghum varieties enhanced with essential amino acids, lysine, threonine and methionine, vitamins A and E; iron and zinc without having introduced foreign genes into the crops.

The project holds many benefits: The nutritional status of at least 300 million people in the arid and semi-arid tropics of Africa can be improved by improving the nutritional value of their staple food. For rural farmers, the project may mean new varieties that are higher in yield and nutrition.
The crops will be sustainable and will be grown in rural communities who generally do not benefit from fortification programmes.

In addition to improving nutritional requirements, the CSIR is committed to human capital development and Masters and PhD students will be trained in all aspects of plant biotechnology.

The project will be implemented by a consortium led by the CSIR and its partners the Agricultural Research Council and the University of Pretoria.