12/August/20

 

A new scientific paper published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe gives an overview of the risks associated with gene-editing procedures (new genetic engineering) for plants and animals. The risks are not restricted to the wide range of unintended effects that can be triggered by the process of gene editing. There are also risks associated with the intended biological characteristics generated through gene editing. The authors state that the current EU risk assessment guidance for GMOs requires revision and broadening to capture all potential genomic irregularities arising from genome editing and suggest additional tools to assist the risk assessment of genome-edited plants and animals for the environment and food/animal feed in the EU. GMWatch

 

 

Petitioners who mounted a legal challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) registration of Enlist Duo, a relatively new and highly toxic pesticide product, recently learned of a mixed decision from the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case. The good news is that Judge Ryan D. Nelson, writing the opinion for the court, found that EPA, in registering the herbicide Enlist Duo, had failed to protect monarch butterflies, which are under consideration as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). On the other hand, the court concluded that EPA registration of the product was otherwise lawful — which means that this toxic compound will for now remain on the market. Beyond Pesticides