APHIS Releases Review Results of 12 Improved Plants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the results of their review of 12 plants improved through genetic engineering techniques.  APHIS found that the modified plants were unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared with their non-modified counterparts.

The list of improved plants includes the following:

• soybean with herbicide tolerance developed by Bayer Crop Science;
• soybean herbicide tolerance developed by Bioheuris, Inc.;
• pennycress with reduced levels of erucic acid and reduced fiber in the seed developed by CoverCress, Inc.;
• maize with altered plant architecture developed by Inari Agriculture, Inc.;
• maize with rapid response to fungal infection developed by Insignum AgTech;
• maize with altered enzyme levels and herbicide tolerance developed by Mazen Animal Health, Inc.;
• brown mustard with altered pungency to improve flavor and altered outgrowth/texture to reduce appendage development on leaves and stems developed by Pairwise Plants Services, Inc.;
• banana altered for fruit quality, non-browning developed by Tropic Biosciences; and
• four camelina plants with herbicide resistance developed by Yield10 Bioscience, Inc.

APHIS concluded that these plants may be cultivated in the US.

Read the media release from APHIS.