A map at the recent World Seed Congress in Rotterdam, Netherlands, showed most major crop-producing regions now have rules for gene editing. That includes Canada, which recently announced rules that allow the practice without the regulatory burden faced by genetically modified crops characterized by inserting genes from other species.
Gene editing involves switching on or switching off genes that are already found in the plant.
Krista Thomas, vice-president of trade policy and seed innovation with the Canadian Grains Council, said it is a good result for agriculture.
“I think Canada’s regulatory approach for gene editing is the best in the world because it’s pragmatic and it’s science-based and it maintains a product-based approach,” she said at the World Seed Congress, where she was a panellist in a session on the state of gene editing regulations around the world.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada recently announced that researcher John Laurie is growing wheat at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre with genes edited to resist drought.
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“We see a lot of potential to support sustainable agriculture, but mainly in corn, sugar beets, cereals, sunflower and then traits like fungal resistance or pest resistance, virus resistance,” [said Claudia Hallebach, general counsel and head of global IP with KWS Group.]
In Canada, Thomas says crops that didn’t benefit from the earlier phase of genetic modification, like flax and pulses, could be improved by gene editing.
