The need for assessment of risks arising from interactions between NGT organisms from an EU perspective

Summary

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.