Genetic editing of plants will make it possible to obtain crops that are more resistant to drought and the warming of climate change, as well as more abundant harvests with less environmental impact. This is the position defended by the Center for Research in Agrigenomics (CRAG), a reference center in plant biology, before the upcoming regulation in the European Union of gene editing applied to food production.
Genetic editing is different from the production of transgenics, which is regulated by a 2001 European directive, Maria Lois, director of CRAG, explained yesterday in a meeting with journalists.
For gene editing, the Crispr (pronounce crisper) technique is used, which makes it possible to precisely modify a gene to improve the properties of a plant. This phenomenon occurs spontaneously in nature and has been used, albeit not as precisely, since the early days of agriculture.
The production of transgenics, on the other hand, consists of transferring a gene from one species to another, something that does not occur spontaneously in nature.
Since the Crispr gene-editing technique was invented in 2012, and the 2001 directive regulates genetically modified organisms (GMOs) based on the technique used to obtain them and not the organism obtained, Crispr-edited plants are not regulated by directive. A resolution of the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in 2018 that these crops must comply with the same regulations as GMOs.
“Europe is the only region in the world that considers that genetically edited vegetables are equivalent to transgenic ones”, declares Josep Maria Casacuberta, CRAG researcher and adviser to the European Food Safety Authority. At a time when other countries are already cultivating and marketing gene-edited plants, this puts the European agricultural sector at a disadvantage.
In addition, it is not technically possible to detect genetically edited plants, unlike what happens with transgenic plants that can be detected and prevented from being sold if they do not comply with the regulations, reports Casacuberta. Therefore, even if the cultivation of plants edited with Crispr is prevented in Europe, it will not be possible to prevent the entry of genetically edited foods from other countries, which could have better properties than European products.
The European Commission plans to present a proposal at the beginning of June to modify the regulations and adapt them to gene editing techniques, which will open a period of discussion in the member states. "The new legislation should make it possible to obtain the benefits that these techniques allow, while guaranteeing a high degree of safety of the products obtained," says the CRAG in a statement released yesterday.
The position of the CRAG coincides with that of the Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain (Cosce), which represents 87 scientific societies and 40,000 researchers. In a report on how to regulate the genetic editing of food, Cosce argues that "it will be essential to use all available resources, including the most advanced genetic improvement techniques, [to] increase food production and reduce the impact of agriculture and livestock on the environment.
