Regulatory Authorities and Breeding Sector Call for a Food Safety Culture in Gene Editing

Experts from Wageningen University & Research released a review article tackling the advancements in genomic crop techniques, regulatory considerations, and food safety. The article is published in Transgenic Research.

The highlights of the article include the following:

• Advancements in genomic crop techniques include the development of cutting-edge genetic technologies like base- and prime editing, alongside significant improvements in existing methods such as targeted mutagenesis and conventional random mutagenesis.
• Significant regulatory challenges are anticipated due to differences in modern biotechnology legislation across various countries/regions, which must contend with the rapid pace of innovation in genomic crop techniques.
• The nature of mutations induced by new techniques is indistinguishable from those resulting from conventional methods, making the modified crops difficult to differentiate from non-modified counterparts of the same species using only technical analytical methods.
• Although off-target or unintended effects in primary mutants remain underexplored, they are not considered a major safety concern. This is due to the established crop breeding practice of iterative selection cycles that naturally segregate and discard unwanted phenotypes.
• Given the fast-evolving field, there is an advocacy for both regulatory authorities and the breeding sector to proactively implement a food safety culture. This would help developers identify potential food safety issues early in the product development pipeline.

Read more in Transgenic Research.