Gene editing has captured the imagination of academics and professionals working on agricultural development in Africa. They claim the technology has the potential to revolutionise crop breeding, based on assertions of precision, cheapness and speed. However, these claims are strongly challenged in a new peer-reviewed article by an international group of development experts led by Joeva Sean Rock, Professor of Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. The authors review the evidence and experience of older-style GM crops in Africa, as well as the research findings to date on gene editing. They conclude that unless hard lessons are learned from experience with first-generation GM crops, gene editing projects "are in danger of repeating mistakes of the past". GMWatch

 

 

At the end of February 2022, GM rapeseed not authorised for cultivation was found by the NGO Inf'OGM on the side of a road in an industrial port area near Rouen, France. To avoid any risk of production and dissemination of pollen and seeds, the destruction of these rapeseed plants was carried out at the request of the General Directorate of Food. The latter then referred the matter to the French food and environmental safety agency ANSES to assess the effectiveness of the measures applied. ANSES recommends a complete destruction of the plants and their roots, as well as regular monitoring of the whole area concerned throughout the year in order to anticipate the flowering of possible new plants. ANSES also recommends strengthening the monitoring plans for environmental effects. In practice, this means extending the monitoring to all unloading and transport areas and their immediate environment, in order to avoid the risk of persistence of GM plants in these areas following the accidental release of seeds. ANSES (French language text)

 

 

One method of gene editing is manipulating DNA methylation. Researchers in University of Connecticut's (UConn) College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources are studying the unintended effects of CRISPR/dCas-mediated editing on DNA methylation in gene-edited tomatoes. The researchers say they are trying to make the tomato more nutritious and tasty. However, A UConn press release says, "The potential unintended side effects of this process are not yet well-studied, so additional research is needed prior to introducing the technique for potential commercial agricultural applications." USDA

 

 

Green Peer Natalie Bennett explains what's wrong with the UK government's Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill, which is set to remove regulatory safeguards from GMOs and is currently being debated in the House of Lords. She writes, "Having trashed the physical world, we’re now at risk of – through similar reductionist approaches – damaging the genetic world, the sophisticated, incredibly complex interactions that make up a living thing, which have developed over hundreds of millions of years." Yorkshire Bylines

 

 

Blogger Vixen Valentino was locked out of her Twitter account three times for "copyright infringement" by tweeting screenshots from the internet about Monsanto promoter Mary Mangan. Read her guest post on the DisInformation Chronicle. Disinformation Chronicle (subscribe for full access)

 

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