EU Genomic Rules Clear Path for Spain's Low-Gluten Wheat, Suitable for Celiacs
A wheat variety with 85% less gluten, developed by Spain's CSIC in Córdoba, moves closer to market after the EU adopted its regulation on New Genomic Techniques. Researchers hope to place it in the NGT-1 category, exempt from strict GMO risk assessments. Spanish celiacs currently pay 996.37 euros more per year for gluten-free products.
Regulatory barrier lifts for celiac-safe wheat
A wheat variety engineered to be suitable for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance is moving toward the market after the European Union adopted its regulation on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). According to sevilla.abc.es, the development is described as one of Spain's most significant scientific milestones of the past decade, though legislative barriers had until now blocked its path to commercialization.
The variety was developed by a team at the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture in Córdoba, part of Spain's National Research Council (CSIC). The wheat contains roughly 85% less gluten than conventional varieties. "We are in the final phases of developing the definitive version of the near gluten-free wheat," said Francisco Barro, the researcher leading the study, as quoted by sevilla.abc.es.
How the NGT categories decide the outcome
The EU's new framework is central to whether the wheat reaches shelves freely. Researchers hope the variety will fit into the NGT-1 category, covering plants the EU treats as equivalent to those obtained through conventional breeding. Such plants would be exempt from the strict risk assessments currently applied to genetically modified organisms, allowing free commercialization.
If the wheat does not qualify, it would fall under NGT-2, the category for varieties that exceed the number of genetic edits permitted for NGT-1 and therefore require a formal risk-assessment process. The Córdoba team maintains that its wheat is not a conventional transgenic plant but was produced using CRISPR editing.
- NGT-1: treated as conventional breeding, exempt from strict GMO risk evaluations, free to market.
- NGT-2: requires a formal risk-assessment process before commercialization.
Barro explained that the method does not require inserting a transgene into the DNA chain. Instead, the team marks the genetic fragments to be removed, and the CRISPR protein introduces mutations in the marked genes so that, in the next generation of the plant, they are no longer present.
The science behind the gluten reduction
The researchers spent years analyzing cereals with low levels of the immunogenic proteins responsible for celiac disease. They concluded that gliadins, which are responsible for bread fermentation, were the key. These proteins involve up to 120 different genes, making them technically complex to locate, according to Barro. Removing the gliadins renders the wheat suitable for celiacs and for those affected by varying degrees of gluten intolerance.
Agronomically, field trials showed that the low-gluten cereal varieties perform well against drought, behaving almost identically to other varieties considered especially resistant.
Market implications
The commercial case rests on the premium celiac consumers currently pay. According to data from the Federation of Celiac Associations of Spain cited by sevilla.abc.es, celiacs bear an average additional cost of 996.37 euros per year in their shopping basket compared with consumers of gluten products. With the celiac population now exceeding 1% in Spain, a market-ready low-gluten wheat could reshape a growing segment of gluten-free food supply.
The team is still finalizing the definitive plant line, after which it will assess the regulatory fit under the new EU rules. The outcome of that classification will determine how quickly the grain can move from laboratory to commercial trade.
