We’ve scanned the web to bring together a library of interesting, thought-provoking articles, blogs, reports and academic papers that explore the issue of genetic engineering in food and farming from broader and deeper perspectives. Browse for inspiration or search by theme.
This briefing summarises concerns about the genetic modification of nature, which involves the use of genetic engineering (including gene editing) to create genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for release into the wild. It is written to draw the attention of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to serious problems associated with plans to develop the use of so-called synthetic biology in nature conservation.
PCR methods are widely applied for the detection of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Europe, facilitating compliance with stringent regulatory requirements and enabling the accurate identification and quantification of genetically modified traits in various crops and foodstuffs. This manuscript investigates the suitability of real-time PCR methods for detecting organisms generated through new genomic techniques (NGTs), specifically focusing on a case study using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model gene-edited plant. The results demonstrate that while the grf1-3 LNA method successfully detected and quantified gene-edited Arabidopsis DNA, achieving absolute specificity remains a challenge. This study also addresses the significance of the cross-laboratory method for validation, demonstrating that the method developed for an SNP-modified allele can be performed in accordance with the precision and trueness criteria established by the European Network of GMO Laboratories (ENGL). Furthermore, we call for continued collaboration among regulatory agencies, academia, and industry stakeholders to refine detection strategies. This proactive approach is essential not only for regulatory compliance but also for maintaining public trust in the safe integration of gene-edited organisms into food products.
This article analyses the mechanisms governing the extraction, circulation, and distribution of rent in the biotech industry. Building on recent scholarship, it contributes to debates surrounding the importance of rent in technoscientific capitalism. It analyses genome editing as a global labour process. It interrogates how CRISPR technologies cement and expand neocolonial geographies of rent extraction, privatising the economic benefits and socialising the ecological risks. It argues that an increasingly monopolistic corporate biopower mediates how genome editing technologies are developed, and which mutant ecologies are socially produced.
How could we know if agricultural development interventions make contributions to sustainable development goals (SDGs)? Genetically engineered (GE) crops are celebrated as a class of technological interventions that can realize multiple SDGs. But recent studies have revealed the gap between GE crop program goals and the approaches used to assess their impacts. Using four comprehensive reviews of GE crop socio-economic impacts, we identify common shortcomings across three themes: (a) scope, (b) approaches and (c) heterogeneity. We find that the evaluation sciences literature offers alternative assessment approaches that can enable evaluators to better assess impacts, and inform learning and decision-making. We recommend the use of methods that enable evaluations to look beyond the agronomic and productive effects of individual traits to understand wider socio-economic effects.
Society should be asking itself why it needs to trade the security of its regulations for unsecured promises from the visions of genetic engineers, argues molecular biologist Jack Heinemann.
The review concludes that unintended genetic changes caused by NGT processes are relevant to risk assessment. Due to the technical characteristics of NGTs, the sites of the unintended changes, their genomic context and their frequency (in regard to specific sites) mean that the resulting gene combinations (intended or unintended) may be unlikely to occur with conventional methods. This, in turn, implies that the biological effects (phenotypes) can also be different and may cause risks to health and the environment. Therefore, we conclude that the assessment of intended as well as unintended genetic changes should be part of a mandatory comprehensive molecular characterisation and risk assessment of NGT plants that are meant for environmental releases or for market authorisation.
In its Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission announced that it will present a legislative framework for a sustainable food system, an initiative expected for the third quarter of 2023.
The vision reflected in the law proposal will have a critical impact on the EU’s capacity to build its resilience against the worsening climate and biodiversity crises while guaranteeing long-term accessibility to healthy food.
The briefing presents solutions in the form of actionable tools that can best ensure the swift implementation of a sustainable EU food system on the ground. The European Commission must go ahead with its proposal and publish it in September 2023; there is no better time.
This review discusses the potential environmental and health risks associated with new genomic techniques (NGTs), which create novel genotypes and traits beyond those produced by conventional breeding or earlier genetic engineering methods. It highlights that large-scale releases of multiple NGT organisms—across species and traits—could lead to interactions and cumulative effects that exceed the risks of individual modifications. The authors argue that risk assessments must account for these combined and indirect effects, not just single events, and recommend a precautionary, prospective technology assessment to guide regulators in limiting release scales and minimizing unintended interactions in the environment.
This article makes two interventions. First, it identifies the discursive continuity linking genome editing and the earlier technology of genetic modification. Second, it offers a suite of recommendations regarding how lessons learned from GM crops might be integrated into future breeding programmes focused on genome editing. Ultimately, the authors argue that donors, policymakers and scientists should move beyond the genome towards systems-level thinking by prioritizing the co-development of technologies with farmers; using plant material that is unencumbered by intellectual property restrictions and therefore accessible to resource-poor farmers; and acknowledging that seeds are components of complex and dynamic agroecological production systems. If these lessons are not heeded, genome-editing projects are in danger of repeating mistakes of the past
This review examines studies on unintended genetic alterations caused by traditional and modern genetic modification techniques, including Agrobacterium-mediated transfer, biolistic bombardment, and CRISPR-Cas9 (delivered by various methods). Findings show that these techniques can produce a wide range of unintended genomic changes—from small mutations to major structural variations like chromosome truncations and large DNA rearrangements. Only a few studies used whole-genome or long-read sequencing, suggesting many such effects may be underestimated. The authors emphasize the need for improved analytical methods to better detect and assess these unintended modifications, helping regulators evaluate the safety of genetically modified and gene-edited organisms.
