Wheat that Celiacs can eat? Yes, please!

An article in the WSJ Market Watch today caught my attention: Apparently there is a company in California, Arcadia Biosciences, that is working on developing wheat with less gluten in it, with the goal that it can be tolerated by people who have celiac disease and gluten intolerance. That sounds amazing! I'm a little bit skeptical since from what I understand, Celiacs can't tolerate even the tiniest amounts of gluten without sustaining damage. However, they are moving the project to Phase II, and have just received large amounts of grant money, so there must be some promise of success. I found this paragraph of the article very interesting:

"Arcadia and WSU received a Phase I grant in 2005 through which the organizations applied TILLING(R), a high-throughput genetic screening technology, to identify wheat plants with low levels of proteins that are most toxic to individuals with celiac disease. Significant progress in the Phase I program drove the Phase II application and grant funding. Phase II activities will take a broader approach and seek to remove a far greater number of toxic proteins while maintaining levels of proteins that are critical for bread-making qualities. The company also believes that removal of targeted toxic proteins could cause an increase in beneficial proteins and potentially lead to more nutritious bread."

 That sounds incredible. Maintaining the bread-making properties while removing the toxic gluten properties. Success of such a product would mean that people with gluten intolerance could eat wheat again, though I'm sure that the general food-making industry wouldn't switch over to this low-gluten wheat. Celiacs would still have to purchase specially marked "gluten-free" foods and flours, but if wheat were among them, that could make some things a whole lot easier.

View the entire article: Arcadia Biosciences Receives $855,500 Grant to Fund Next-Stage Development of Wheat with Reduced Celiac Disease Potential