Science Cedar gene responsible for pollen production located

Scientists have isolated the gene that controls the ability of cedar trees to produce pollen, suggesting a feasible method to control the annual outbreak of hay fever in Japan.

Scientist from Niigata University, the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute and elsewhere have presented the achievement at a conference of the Japanese Society of Breeding. According to their findings, a single base sequence constituting the gene determines whether pollen is released. If a method known as genome editing is used to modify the target gene, cedar trees free from pollen could be bred efficiently. "Only one of all the cedar's more than 10 billion bases has turned out to be a deciding factor behind the presence of pollen," said Hiroyuki Kakui, a specially appointed assistant professor of thremmatology at the university. "Use of genome editing can remove pollen from cedar that is useful as construction material." About 70 percent of patients with hay fever--a common type of allergy in Japan--are said to develop the condition because of cedar pollen.

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Quite surprisingly, not only humans are affected:

I get nailed every year and it's no fun. I usually find 3 or 4 over the counter meds and attempt to fight it.

Uncle Frank said:

I get nailed every year and it's no fun. I usually find 3 or 4 over the counter meds and attempt to fight it.

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My poor wife suffers terribly, too. It's the best season of the year, and she has to hole up at home for weeks.

More news on the seedless cypress: it is called "Tanzawa Mori no Mirai" (丹沢森の未来, lit. Tanzawa, the future of the forest), and its official name is "Kanagawa mukafun hi ichigo" which indicates that the tree is found in "Kanagawa, releases no pollen, is a Japanese cypress, and the first of its kind." It was discovered in the city of Hadano in April 2012, when the centre was investigating the airborne situation of pollen of 4,074 Japanese cypress trees within the prefecture.

Because pollen is not released into the air by this tree, it does not produce seeds, either. The cause is believed to be mutation. But the tree can be produced through cuttage. [...] Hiroshi Saito, 52, the chief researcher at the center, said, "I hope that no-pollen Japanese cypress will be a help to those who suffer from pollen allergies. It takes time and effort to increase the number of these trees because they do not make seeds, but hopefully we can raise the number of trees when it comes time to switch them in and out."

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thomas said:

My poor wife suffers terribly, too. It's the best season of the year, and she has to hole up at home for weeks.

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Have you considered the immunotherapeutic inoculations over time? A friend of mine has had great success with it. He used to suffer so much he couldn't go outside without a full-face mask with specialised filters and during pollen season, he couldn't open his windows when he was inside for close to three months.

I don't remember exactly how long but I think it's about three years it takes? And his is so mild now, he just sneezes on and off when it's at its worst. If your wife is suffering this badly, I would at least consider it.

Thank you, I'll forward your information!

Thomas or Dracuella, you aren't bothered by it? I wasn't bothered by it when I was in Japan, but I hear that it is one of those things that builds cumulatively, and after a while the pollen begins to affect people who previously weren't bothered by it. I was mildly paranoid about developing this cedar allergy, because I'd lived in Japan for a while, and as you know this allergy seemed to be a real drag in what is otherwise a very pleasant time of year. But it never manifested. I wonder if I was just lucky, or if this cumulative talk is just nonsense.

It seems that even after more than 20 years, 'my glass still isn't full yet.' I cycle throughout the year, but haven't developed any allergies so far. That's not to say non-allergic people aren't affected by the sheer volume of pollen in the air each spring, much like the 'yellow sand' from China, but for me, it still hasn't become pathological. Yet.

Majestic said:

Thomas or Dracuella, you aren't bothered by it? I wasn't bothered by it when I was in Japan, but I hear that it is one of those things that builds cumulatively, and after a while the pollen begins to affect people who previously weren't bothered by it. I was mildly paranoid about developing this cedar allergy, because I'd lived in Japan for a while, and as you know this allergy seemed to be a real drag in what is otherwise a very pleasant time of year. But it never manifested. I wonder if I was just lucky, or if this cumulative talk is just nonsense.

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I only lived in Japan for six years. The first year or maybe two I was fine but it hit me after that. It's not debilitating but I get a runny nose and itchy eyes.

And it was similar for my wife in the U.S. She didn't have seasonal allergies at first but now she does.

Majestic said:

Thomas or Dracuella, you aren't bothered by it? I wasn't bothered by it when I was in Japan, but I hear that it is one of those things that builds cumulatively, and after a while the pollen begins to affect people who previously weren't bothered by it. I was mildly paranoid about developing this cedar allergy, because I'd lived in Japan for a while, and as you know this allergy seemed to be a real drag in what is otherwise a very pleasant time of year. But it never manifested. I wonder if I was just lucky, or if this cumulative talk is just nonsense.

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I'm not in Japan (sadly) and I'm one of those fortunate souls who have never had any problems with allergies, except nickel and lactose, both of which are more of a nuisance than something that affects my life.

I would have assumed, though, that continued exposure to something would result in resistance? It's what the injections do - gradual increase of dose to immunise you to whatever it is you're allergic to.

Yeah that's a good question. This is what my assistant says:

Seasonal allergies usually do not fade just because you keep being exposed, because the immune system is not "learning" tolerance the way it often can with controlled allergy immunotherapy. Instead, repeated pollen exposure can keep re-triggering the same IgE-driven allergic response, and in some people the response can even get worse over time.

Why exposure helps in shots
Allergy shots work because they give carefully controlled, gradually increasing doses of a specific allergen under medical supervision, which is designed to build immune tolerance rather than provoke the full reaction. That controlled pattern is very different from normal seasonal exposure, where pollen arrives in unpredictable amounts and can be much higher on windy or high-count days.

Why natural exposure doesn't "desensitize" you
Regular real-world exposure often isn't low enough or consistent enough to retrain the immune system. For many people, pollen exposure just keeps activating the allergic pathway, producing symptoms without creating lasting tolerance. Also, pollen seasons can vary by weather and climate, so exposure may increase rather than stay stable from year to year.

What this means in practice
That's why the usual approach is symptom control and exposure reduction, not hoping that "pushing through it" will cure the allergy. Common strategies include closing windows during high pollen times, showering after being outdoors, saline rinses, antihistamines, nasal steroids, and immunotherapy when needed.

A simple analogy is that allergy shots are like a training program, while seasonal pollen is like random surprise drills that keep startling the system instead of teaching it to relax.

dracuella said:

I'm not in Japan (sadly) and I'm one of those fortunate souls who have never had any problems with allergies, except nickel and lactose, both of which are more of a nuisance than something that affects my life.

I would have assumed, though, that continued exposure to something would result in resistance? It's what the injections do - gradual increase of dose to immunise you to whatever it is you're allergic to.

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There was an NHK World about this and egg allergies. It featured a child who came up in hives if he was within 5 miles radius of a chip of egg shell (I exaggerate). They simply exposed him to tiny amounts of egg daily and in a clinical environment with access to adrenaline and a defibrillator (). In 6 weeks (if memory serves) he was freely eating a plate of scrambled egg

So exposure to incrementally increasing amounts of the allergen, dampens down the exaggerated immune response. But it's expensive because it's personal and time expensive.

They did the same thing in the UK by injecting tiny volumes of dilute solutions of various pollens under the skin (in a clinical setting) and again a few weeks later, no more allergy.

So I think @dracuella makes a really good point.

Interestingly, nut allergies are prevalent in the UK but in places like Greece that is rare but peach allergies are common

mdchachi said:

Seasonal allergies usually do not fade just because you keep being exposed,

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I heard, though, it was the opposite with regard to cedar pollen. I heard that repeated exposure eventually triggered an allergic response. But this may be an urban legend. I was never troubled by it, even after a few decades in Japan.