German Greens compromise on support for CRISPR crops, remain ‘the party of precaution’

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The Greens are debating a new policy program …. Many conflicts were resolved in advance, but on the subject of genetic engineering, green worlds collided on [Nov 21].

The attempts of the federal executive committee to bring this complex down to a common denominator had not been fruitful. “We don’t need genetically modified plants and we don’t want them!” said a delegate who pleaded for fundamental rejection.

On the other hand, the Green Dorothea Kaufmann from Heidelberg spoke out in favor of trusting science not only on the subject of climate change. “We should do the same with this topic!” explained the molecular biologist. New genetic engineering processes in plant development are not dangerous, the treated plants are nature-identical and completely harmless, as more than 3000 studies have shown.

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…. In the end, the delegates voted with a large majority for a compromise formula for the federal executive committee. Harald Ebner, spokesman for genetic engineering policy of the Greens, welcomes the decision on agro-genetic engineering as a “good decision”. “Alliance 90 / The Greens remain the party of precaution and technology assessment,” he told WELT. With old and new genetic engineering, there must be a risk assessment and labeling requirement, the Greens have now decided”.

[Editor’s note: This story was published in German and has been translated and edited for clarity.]

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