Testbiotech is today publishing a backgrounder on the first analysis of the EU Commission proposal for the future EU regulation of plants obtained from NGTs (new genomic techniques, or new genetic engineering, New GE). The aim is to identify some of the fundamental elements that need be taken into account in further discussions on the proposal, in particular with regard to risk assessment. Testbiotech recommends that the EU Commission proposal is rejected unless they undergo major revision and amendments. For this purpose, Testbiotech is making some first suggestions. Testbiotech via GMWatch; additional comment by GMWatch

 

 

Genetic engineering-associated imprecision isn’t unique or new and we must take it into consideration when deciding how to regulate new GM techniques such as gene editing, writes Dr Belinda Martineau, the former genetic engineer who developed the Calgene GM tomato in the early 1990s. In fact, she writes, unintended insertion of “extra” DNA into genetically engineered organisms has been happening for over 30 years: "I know because my colleagues and I at Calgene, Inc. found that we had inadvertently inserted bacterial DNA into the Flavr Savr tomatoes we were analyzing and preparing for commercial sales back in the early 1990s." More recently, the same unexpected effect was found in cattle gene-edited to be hornless. Dr Martineau adds that such unintended consequences of GM techniques must not be denied, downplayed, or ignored. Biotech Salon

 

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