23/February/21

 

An unprecedented drive is under way to promote new genetic modification techniques that are collectively termed gene editing – most notably CRISPR/Cas. The agricultural biotech industry claims that these techniques can provide solutions to our food and farming problems, including the challenges posed by climate change, pests, and diseases. A new report published by the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament and written by GMWatch editor Claire Robinson looks at the claims and shows them to be at best misleading and at worst deceptive. It shows that gene editing is a costly and potentially dangerous distraction from the real solutions to the challenges faced by our food and farming sectors. Greens/EFA in the European Parliament

 

 

In an article marking the release of the new report (see above), MEPs and farmers Benoît Biteau and Martin Häusling argue that new GM technology won’t solve the problems of industrial agriculture and will undermine nature, climate protection and the European Green Deal. Responding to claims that new GM techniques will reduce the use of pesticides, they write, "As organic farmers, we know how to farm without pesticides. We don’t use any herbicides... and very few non-chemical substances that kill insects or fungi. And there’s still potential to reduce those, by bringing (even) more biodiversity into our fields!... The GM seed industry is telling us fairy tales: don’t believe them." Of the new report, they say, "It provides good information for those who have never heard of gene editing and for those who think they know it all." Greens/EFA in the European Parliament

 

 

In an important new paper, scientists have called for an international database of gene-edited organisms to be set up in order to enable countries to detect these organisms in foods, seeds and crops. They write, "This approach helps to avoid trade disruptions and to facilitate GMO/non-GMO labelling schemes." Pressure is growing on the EU Commission and the EU member states to establish such a database, which must include gene-edited GMOs that are not authorised in the EU, as well as those that are. GMWatch