Prospects for genetically modified crops (original) (raw)

Genetically modified crops: methodology, benefits, regulation and public concerns

British Medical Bulletin, 2000

The genetic modification of crop plants from the methodology involved in their production through to the current debate on their use in agriculture are reviewed. Techniques for plant transformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens and particle bombardment, and for the selection of transgenic plants using marker genes are described. The benefits of currently available genetically modified (GM) crops in reducing waste and agrochemical use in agriculture, and the potential of the technology for further crop improvement in the future are discussed. The legal requirements for containment of novel GM crops and the roles of relevant regulatory bodies in ensuring that GM crops and food are safe are summarized. Some of the major concerns of the general public regarding GM crops and food: segregation of GM and non-GM crops and cross-pollination between GM crops and wild species, the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes, the prevention of new allergens being introduced in to the food chain and the relative safety of GM and non-GM foods are considered. Finally, the current debate on the use of GM crops in agriculture and the need for the government, scientists and industry to persevere with the technology in the face of widespread hostility is studied.

Experiences and Prospects of Genetically Engineered Crops

Choices. The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resources Issues, 2016

The debate about genetically engineered (GE) crops has become increasingly polarized in the United States, Europe, and some developing countries. The debate polarization has not been resolved in and by the complex and seemingly divergent literature that examines the impacts of the actual and potential adoption and commercialization of GE crops in industrialized and non-industrialized countries. To better understand the rich literature accumulated over the past twenty years, the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine and Engineering (NAS) established a committee of experts to compile existing questions and issues from the public, collect and assess existing evidence and draw a set of findings, conclusions and recommendations to help the public and policy makers understand better the complex landscape. The NAS Committee objective was to review the accumulated literature to better assess the purported positive and negative impacts of GE crops, as well as the institutional framework in which these technologies have been released. The analysis also included assessing the potential role that emerging genetically engineered technologies will play on future crop improvement efforts and their impact on long term goals such as food security. This article summarizes the U.S. National Academies Report. In addition, the article provides the current article author's personal clarification notes about the content of the NAS Report. Furthermore, while the NAS Report has a global focus, this article directs attention to the most important issues discussed in policy dialogues in the United States, while highlighting relevant issues and aspects from other countries.

New GMO regulations for old: Determining a new future for EU crop biotechnology

GM Crops & Food, 2017

In this review, current EU GMO regulations are subjected to a point-by point analysis to determine their suitability for agriculture in modern Europe. Our analysis concerns present GMO regulations as well as suggestions for possible new regulations for genome editing and New Breeding Techniques (for which no regulations presently exist). Firstly, the present GMO regulations stem from the early days of recombinant DNA and are not adapted to current scientific understanding on this subject. Scientific understanding of GMOs has changed and these regulations are now, not only unfit for their original purpose, but, the purpose itself is now no longer scientifically valid. Indeed, they defy scientific, economic, and even common, sense. A major EU regulatory preconception is that GM crops are basically different from their parent crops. Thus, the EU regulations are "process based" regulations that discriminate against GMOs simply because they are GMOs. However current scientific evidence shows a blending of classical crops and their GMO counterparts with no clear demarcation line between them. Canada has a "product based" approach and determines the safety of each new crop variety independently of the process used to obtain it. We advise that the EC rewrites it outdated regulations and moves toward such a product based approach. Secondly, over the last few years new genomic editing techniques (sometimes called New Breeding Techniques) have evolved. These techniques are basically mutagenesis techniques that can generate genomic diversity and have vast potential for crop improvement. They are not GMO based techniques (any more than mutagenesis is a GMO technique), since in many cases no new DNA is introduced. Thus they cannot simply be lumped together with GMOs (as many anti-GMO NGOs would prefer). The EU currently has no regulations to cover these new techniques. In this review, we make suggestions as to how these new gene edited crops may be regulated. The EU is at a turning point where the wrong decision could destroy European agricultural competitively for decades to come.