“There is a huge body of scientific evidence that modern genetic manipulation tools, whether that’s CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing or other methodologies, are frankly safer than the methodologies that have historically been used for the last hundred years,” said Neil Ward, vice president and general manager EMEA of the U.S. DNA sequencing player Pacific Biosciences (PacBio).
In a landmark ruling in 2018, the EU applied the same strict regulations to gene-edited organisms as it does to GMOs. While some groups approve of this classification, the regulations are widely seen in the biotech industry as unfit for purpose because it’s very hard to detect these organisms in imports, and the controls are likely holding back technology that could improve food security around the world.
When it was part of the EU, the U.K. had to follow the same rules as the bloc. Now that the nation is out of the club, however, the U.K. government aims to make reforms. A bill called the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill entered the U.K. parliament earlier this year proposing that gene-edited organisms be treated with less regulatory scrutiny than traditional GMOs, allowing new foods to enter the market faster. The bill will be debated by members of parliament before moving ahead in the lawmaking process.
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