Published: 14-01-2022
Technology isn’t values neutral and treating it as if it is diminishes discussions around innovation and appropriateness and diverts from much needed dialogue around sustainability and sufficiency.
Are gene-editing technologies traditional? Not if they are linked to intellectual rights
Published: 09-06-2021
The recent Defra public consultation on the regulation of genetic technologies suggested that gene editing was the same as ‘traditional plant breeding’. But, says Kathleen Garnett, if its patented its not traditional.
New paper: Policy and Regulation of New Genetic Technologies – Editing or Evisceration?
Published: 29-05-2021
EU and UK attempts to change genome editing regulations could have opened the door to interesting, even productive discussions. Instead they have further entrenched the unhelpful polarisation of early GMO debates.
Genetic technologies: safety and risk correlate with scale, not naturalness
Published: 29-04-2021
Framing genetic engineering as ‘natural’ fuels conflict and creates distractions in the discussions about the technology, says Jack Heinemann – including those around the newly commercialised techniques of genome editing and gene silencing.
Big data and AI won’t solve world food problem, report says
Published: 09-04-2021
While promising, techno solutions in agriculture also bring inevitable questions. A new report from IPES Food and ETC Group asks and whether such innovations free us from, or perpetuate, “agribusiness-as-usual”.
A crossroads for ‘genome editing’ in Europe – questions, options and dilemmas
Published: 16-03-2021
A new policy briefing from the Genome Editing and Agriculture: Policies, Practices and Public Perceptions (GEAP3) project discusses choices and dilemmas facing policy makers and societal stakeholders in the European Union and the United Kingdom asks bigger questions.
Survey: Genome editing – what are the consequences for agroecology?
Published: 04-03-2021
During this year’s Oxford Real Farming Conference Global 21 we took the opportunity to conduct a short survey to ascertain which potential threats to agroecology from genome editing (GE) most […]
Can a new method for detecting a new gene-edited plant ensure product traceability, labelling and consumer trust?
Published: 16-11-2020
In September of this year, the first-ever public detection method for a gene-edited crop was announced. The new method detects a herbicide-tolerant (SU) rapeseed variety that was developed using gene […]
Survey: Genome editing in food and farming – the campaigning landscape
Published: 05-10-2020
The results of our latest survey indicate that amongst the UK’s food and farming organisations, a new dynamic is at play which is less cohesive, less engaged, more cautious or hesitant than was expressed by many of these same groups in the early days of genetic engineering in agriculture.
Survey: Genome editing technologies in conservation
Published: 18-09-2020
The lay public, those who are paying members or who donate regularly to conservation causes, would expect conservation organisations, both big and small, to be getting to grips with genome editing. Our survey suggests this is not the case.