Biotech Updates

EFSA Releases Opinion on Safety Assessment of GM Plants Developed Through Cisgenesis and Intragenesis

February 24, 2012

As per European Commission's request, EFSA Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms has issued a scientific opinion related to risk assessment of cisgenic and intragenic plants. The panel compared the hazards associated with plants produced by cisgenesis and intragenesis with those obtained either by conventional plant breeding techniques or plant genesis.

The Panel concludes that "similar hazards can be associated with cisgenic and conventionally bred plants, while novel hazards can be associated with intragenic and transgenic plants." Thus, the GMO panel opined that the established Guidance for risk assessment of food and feed from genetically modified plants and the Guidance on the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants are applicable for the evaluation of food and feed products derived from cisgenic and intragenic plants and for performing an environmental risk assessment and do not need to be developed further.

More on this news at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/2561.pdf