Gene-edited crops set to arrive in England, but EU remains divided on them

The UK parliament has signed into law rules for its Precision Breeding Act (2023), bringing the sale of gene-edited products to consumers closer. However, the new law applies to England only.

Precision breeding refers to altering an animal’s or plant’s DNA using specialised enzymes to change its genome at specific points; the modification must be possible using traditional breeding to qualify. They do not apply in cases where genes are transferred from unrelated species – deemed genetically modified organisms (GMO).