Emerging governance considerations for the deployment of genetically engineered microbes

Publication date: 01/02/2026

This review examines emerging trends in the governance and policy landscape for real-world deployment of genetically engineered microbes (GEMs) in the United States and Europe. A recent wave of commercialized GEMs in the US suggests renewed interest in open release after decades of low activity, with applications spanning agriculture, environmental restoration, energy, and health.

These developments challenge existing governance frameworks in several ways. The feasibility of strict product- or process-based regulation is increasingly tested, while the long-term persistence and ecological action of GEMs complicate traditional risk assessment approaches. Synergistic and indirect impacts are difficult to predict, requiring methods that can address high levels of uncertainty.

At the same time, diverse applications and new business models—such as direct-to-consumer approaches—raise concerns around stewardship, consent, transborder movement, and monitoring. Addressing these issues will require interdisciplinary research and broader stakeholder deliberation to support more robust and adaptable governance.

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Genome editing outside of controlled facilities: A review of plausible futures and risks

Publication date: 01/01/2026
Vectors for delivering proteins and/or nucleic acids into the cells of whole organisms, from single to multicellular, are rapidly advancing. Common cargos are nucleic acids needed to express the components of a genome editing reaction, or ribonucleoproteins (RNP) that can act immediately upon delivery. In only 20 years, improvements in associated formulation technologies have decreased the dependence of genome editing on the need for a laboratory or trained personnel, allowing for genome editing outside of controlled facilities. As this happens, both target and non-target organisms may be exposed to active biological agents, necessitating a new framework for risk assessment. Some scientists deny developments for gene editing in uncontrolled environments, leading to scientifically unjustified dismissals of risk.
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Governing by imaginaries? Regulatory legitimization of genome-edited foods in Japan

Publication date: 23/12/2025

The article examines how Japanese regulators construct legitimacy around genome-edited foods by shaping dominant sociotechnical imaginaries through strategies like selective incorporation, technocratic reinterpretation, and deferral, which tend to depoliticize societal concerns. While governance is presented as scientifically sound and procedurally transparent, public responses express alternative views based on precaution, social inclusion, and consumer rights, revealing ongoing tensions between innovation goals and demands for democratic legitimacy, and showing that this apparent stability is still fragile and contested.

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Is gene editing natural and does it matter? A qualitative analysis of citizen-consumers’ and farmers’ views on the use of new genomic techniques in plants

Publication date: 23/12/2025

This study examines the notions of ‘naturalness’ in Finnish citizen-consumers’ and farmers’ perspectives, through ten focus group discussions, on genetic modification (GM) and new genomic techniques (NGTs) in plant breeding, amidst the current European Union (EU) legislative changes. In this context, the study shows that citizen-consumers’ views on GM plants and NGTs are significantly associated with different notions of ‘naturalness’ that are closely entangled with each other. Some citizen-consumers consider any human intervention as unnatural and unacceptable, while others are open to NGTs if they resemble natural processes or traditional breeding methods. Those who do not explicitly make use of the notion of naturalness are the most open towards all genetic techniques. However, consideration of the use purpose of NGTs can shift views of citizen-consumers. Farmers, in contrast, focus less on naturalness and more on the practical and economic implications of NGTs. Organic farmers expressed concerns about being excluded from the benefits of NGTs. Despite some caution towards transgenesis, most farmers were open to using NGTs due to the pressing challenges they face, such as climate change and economic pressures. The study concludes that different understandings of (un)naturalness are inextricably linked and continuously shape each other, rather than existing independently. This dynamic interdependence, in turn, underlie shifting views of NGTs in different contexts.

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Ensuring effective removal of transgenes before release of genome-edited crops

Publication date: 14/10/2025

Genome editing technology is evolving fast, and many labs worldwide are generating crop plants with improved traits. If transgenes were used to generate the edits, foreign DNA must be effectively removed by outcrossing. After an evaluation of various technologies, we show that long-read whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is at present the only reliable approach to confirm the absence of foreign DNA. We suggest using long-read WGS before requesting exemption from classification as genetically modified organisms and provide a guide for interpreting WGS data.

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Rethinking the ‘Heritage of Humanity’ in the Anthropocene: Gene Editing, Biosphere Modification, and the Need for a Novel Entities International Legal Framework,

Publication date: 07/10/2025

This paper looks at what gene editing means for the international legal idea of a shared “heritage of humanity,” set against the backdrop of the Anthropocene. It asks two questions: does that heritage permit gene editing to change it, and how should the faster, larger-scale editing of non-human life be governed? Drawing on international law and Earth systems science, it finds current international law weak while human pressure on the biosphere is pushing the planet beyond safe limits. It calls for a new international framework to regulate gene editing as a “novel entity,” and for the heritage of humanity to be redefined to cover more than just the human genome.

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Alternative proteins and better food futures

Publication date: 01/10/2025

In this report, based on three webinars hosted by TABLE in the summer of 2025, we outline these polarised positions and try to go beyond them. What diversity of views do we find within advocates and critics? Where is there overlap and agreement between those who are concerned and those who are optimistic? What are the more nuanced, and perhaps more achievable, futures for APs that we should be discussing?

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Chimera: The Genetic Modification of Nature

Publication date: 01/09/2025

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.

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The Enduring Fantasy of “Feeding the World”

Publication date: 15/07/2025

This article challenges the dominant idea that global hunger can be solved simply by producing more food. The authors argue that this “feed-the-world” narrative—rooted in colonial and capitalist logics—frames hunger as a problem of insufficient supply rather than inequality and access, while legitimising industrial agriculture and corporate control over land and resources. Despite decades of yield increases, food insecurity and ecological harm persist, revealing the limits of productivist solutions. Instead, the article calls for a shift toward agroecology, food sovereignty, and justice-centred approaches that prioritise local autonomy, ecological health, and the right of all communities to define their own food systems.

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Agroecological sustainability: exploring the intersection of digital agriculture, ethics and the right to food

Publication date: 17/06/2025

The paper examines the impact of modern agricultural practices on environmental sustainability, focusing on the ethical-legal dilemmas of digital agriculture and its role in the agroecological transition. The paper advocates for an alternative: local and solidarity-based digital agriculture, a model that aligns digital innovation with agroecological practices and human rights principles, empowering small-scale farmers and enhancing food sovereignty. The research concludes that a balanced integration of technology and agroecological practices rooted in human rights is crucial to advancing a sustainable and equitable food system. However, further empirical research is necessary to evaluate the implementation of such local and solidarity-based digital agriculture models across diverse contexts.

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