The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of a sprayable biopesticide that relies on RNA interference (RNAi) – gene silencing technology – to combat the Colorado potato beetle. The pesticide’s active ingredient, ledprona, consists of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). The product is the first dsRNA pesticide in the world allowed to be sprayed on plants, according to the EPA. Ledprona works by turning off a gene the Colorado potato beetle needs to produce a protein that is critical for its survival. The Massachusetts-based biotech firm GreenLight Biosciences, which makes the product, claims it specifically targets the Colorado potato beetle and is not harmful to other insects. The pesticide also breaks down rapidly in the environment, the company says. However, a scientific review by Prof Jack Heinemann and colleagues explains that there are many serious risks of dsRNA technology, including the risk of silencing the genes of non-target organisms that consume or inhale dsRNA, such as humans or other animals. Environmental groups are sounding the alarm over potential unintended consequences of the novel technology on bees and other pollinators. GMWatch comment on US EPA and c&en articles

 

 

At the end of 2023, two major events further called into question the proposal for new regulations on GMOs obtained using new genomic techniques (NGT), according to a press release by peasant farmers' organisation ECVC (European Coordination Via Campesina):
* The French Health and Food Safety Agency (ANSES)[1] published an opinion stating that the criteria for defining GMOs to be excluded from all assessment, labelling and traceability (known as NGT1) are not based on any scientific justification and that the lack of clarity will make it impossible to verify this categorisation.
* The Council of the EU failed to reach any consensus on the text, with the main stumbling block being the issue of patents covering all these NGTs. Faced with this impasse, the Council and the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee are proposing a ban on the patentability of these GMOs, which in practical terms is unenforceable under current patent law. GMWatch

 

 

The German companies Alb-Gold, Alnatura, Andechser, dm and Frosta have launched an initiative to preserve labelling and freedom of choice for GM foods and they are calling on all companies from food production and trade in Europe to join them. They have written an open letter laying out their demands to Manfred Weber, the European People’s Party (EPP) Group Chairman in the European Parliament and Deputy Chairman of the German CSU (Christian Social Union, a Christian democratic and conservative political party). ENGA

 

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