Unintended consequences? Genetic engineering innovation stifled by Toxic Substances Control Act

Screen Shot at AM

[L]ast summer Congress issued reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act, a 30 year old law governing how the EPA and other federal agencies check the boxes that let new chemicals come to market.

But one thing seems clear—the slowdown is real.

The Toxic Substances Control Act has been around since early days of the EPA. … Now, by law, the EPA must give a full review to every substance, and only those that pass can go to market.

[W]hile new regulations might keep dangerous chemicals in their beakers, other, more innocuous substances often get unfairly flagged … These include genetically modified microorganisms being used to create all kinds of new chemicals … These include: Yeasts that fart ethanol; fungi that secrete cellulose; algae that poop biofuels; bacteria that digest oil spills; and a host of other commercially useful microbes that have been spliced with genetic material outside their own genus.

A handful of these helpful GMOs have made it through the post-reform Toxic Substances Control Act EPA…But chemists and companies are concerned that increased data burdens in the new EPA regulations are stifling efforts to engineer solutions from unlikely places.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: The Chemical Industry’s Having a Bad Reaction to New Regs

{{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }}
{{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }}
{{ options.labels.newReviewButton }}
{{ userData.canReview.message }}

Related Articles

Infographic: Global regulatory and health research agencies on whether glyphosate causes cancer

Infographic: Global regulatory and health research agencies on whether glyphosate causes cancer

Does glyphosate—the world's most heavily-used herbicide—pose serious harm to humans? Is it carcinogenic? Those issues are of both legal and ...

Most Popular

Screenshot-PM-24
Viewpoint: The herbicide glyphosate isn’t perfect. Banning it would be far worse.
79d03212-2508-45d0-b427-8e9743ff6432
Viewpoint: The Casey Means hustle—Wellness woo opportunism dressed up as medical wisdom
d-b
Blocked arteries, kidney stones, nausea, constipation, fatigue: Long list of health problems caused by too much vitamin D 
ChatGPT-Image-Mar-10-2026-01_39_01-PM
Viewpoint—“Miracle molecule” debunked: Why acemannan supplements don’t work
ChatGPT-Image-Apr-30-2026-05_00_48-PM
Wellness grifter physician turned wellness influencer out as surgeon general nominee
Screenshot-2026-04-30-at-11.33.46-AM
Anti-seed-oil to anti-vax pipeline: MAHA movement spreads to teen influencers
lab grown meat research kelly schultz lehighuniversity main
Profiles of the 10 top global cultured meat companies
ChatGPT-Image-Mar-27-2026-11_27_05-AM
The myths of “process”: What science says about the “dangers’ of synthetic products and ultra-processed foods
ChatGPT-Image-Apr-30-2026-12_21_05-PM-2
The tech billionaires behind the immortality movement

Sorry. No data so far.

glp menu logo outlined

Get news on human & agricultural genetics and biotechnology delivered to your inbox.