GLUTEN FREE WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.): A GENETIC WAY TO CURB COELIAC DISEASE

Abstract

There are three main cereal crops, rice, maize and wheat, in which, latter constitutes the major portion in the category. According to 2017 reports, it is known to be harvested around 772 million tonnes. Wheat is present in a diverse range and gets its elasticity, viscosity and properties of binding by the storage protein, Gluten, which is a secretory protein synthesised on rough endoplasmic reticulum. Gluten is roughly 78-85% of total wheat protein and made of gliadin and glutenins. There is a part of population with genes which develop autoimmune response against gluten that majorly affects the small intestine by damaging its lining and have to suffer from problems like pain in abdomen, joints, anaemia, osteoporosis and various gastro intestinal problems, developmental problems and problems like cramping, itching and lactose tolerance and excess weight loss. The patients who suffer from this disease undergo either biopsy of small intestine or serological assay like Rapid or ELISA for diagnosis. There are currently no treatments available for coeliac disease as the only way to curb this is strict gluten-free diet. There have been advances made in the field of agriculture, which resulted in production of the low gliadin content by use of gene editing technology and RNAi but the customer acceptance is the major issue faced. The most recent technological advancements in the field of biotechnology, like CRISPR-Cas9 is capable of producing the genetically modified wheat with lowest gliadin composition to curb the celiac disease impact in population.