New rules brought forward by the government will make it easier to conduct research into the genes of plants in the UK.
Ministers said cutting red tape on gene editing research would help to develop new strains of crops that need less pesticide, have less environmental impact and provide better nutrition. The new rules will only apply to research and not allow gene-edited crops into widespread cultivation or consumption.
It is part of a gradual approach towards gene editing by the government. The preferred direction of travel is clear, with ministers having voiced their support for gene editing and genetic modification as aids to modernising farming.
New genetic technologies could help us tackle some of the biggest challenges of our age, around food security, climate change and biodiversity loss. We now have the freedom to foster innovation, to improve the environment, and to help us grow plants that are stronger and more resilient to climate change.
Notification to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is still required for any future crops or foods. Gene editing, the process of working on a plant's existing genome to speed up what could be achieved through natural selection, rather than genetic modification, which can include import genes from other species, is only covered by the new rules.
The government cited sugar beets that is resistant to common viruses, wheat strains that contain less of a possible carcinogen and tomatoes that are resistant to mildew as promising areas of research for UK scientists.
The government has made a number of changes over the past year, which may lead to more use of gene editing and GM.
The director of Beyond GM said that the announcement was a sop to the research establishment that doesn't address the most significant hurdles that developers need to face, which are that farmers don't really want to grow genetically engineered crops.
She said there was a lot of techno-optimism about what kind of genes might be added to food. None of the crops Defra is talking about are close to market. After 35 years of use, genetically engineered crops have not delivered much in terms of real value and they have largely been a distraction from more meaningful discussions about what kind of food system we want and need to transition to.
The rule changes were welcomed by scientists. Prof Nick Talbot, the executive director of the Sainsbury Laboratory, in Norfolk, said: "We can achieve the outcomes of plant breeding, which has been so successful in controlling diseases and improving yields, but in a much more precise manner." We need innovation to escape from the current agriculture. Nothing is no longer an option in the face of the climate emergency.
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