UK to ease restrictions on gene editing in crops and livestock
Redefinition of genetically-modified organisms could see Crispr-edited foods brought to market
The UK government plans to ease restrictions on gene-editing with a view to accelerating research and enabling gene-edited products to be brought to market.
Current regulations, inherited from the EU, class all gene-edited products as genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). This means that minor edits like gene deletions or single base-pair substitutions made to an organism’s genome are treated the same way legally as the introduction of DNA from other species. Many researchers argue that this fails to take into account scientific evidence and hinders the development of crops with desirable traits like disease-resistance and tolerance to drought.