Queensland Researchers Make Breakthrough in GM Super-Crops

Queensland researchers have just made a big breakthrough in genetically modified (GM) super-crops, successfully implanting genetic material into plants through their roots for the first time.

It might not sound like a huge deal at first, but the team at the University of Queensland believes this discovery could revolutionize the way we grow food.

"This is exciting because with further improvement, the technology could potentially be used in the future to produce new crop varieties more quickly," said Professor Bernard Carroll from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences.

Instead of spending a decade cross-breeding plants to enhance qualities like flavor, quality, or yield, this new method could speed up the process without the need for traditional genetic modification.

Carroll explained that agronomists and farmers already work to improve crops, but the process is slow and expensive. "Traditional plant breeding and genetic modification take many generations to produce a new crop variety," he said.

To tackle this, the UQ team used a specially designed nanoparticle—originally developed for vaccine and cancer treatment delivery in animals—allowing plant roots to absorb genetic instructions.

"Plant cell walls are much tougher than human or animal cells," Carroll said, so they coated the nanoparticle in a protein that helps loosen the cell walls and get the genetic material inside.

Once inside, the nanoparticle delivers an mRNA cargo—similar to how an mRNA vaccine works in humans—to temporarily alter the plant’s traits. "The mRNA we deliver into plants is expressed transiently and then disappears," Carroll said.

With UQ’s commercial arm, UniQuest, already patenting the technology, they’re now looking for partners to help develop it further. If successful, this innovation could lead to faster, more efficient crop production—potentially changing the future of farming.