Moves to facilitate the development of gene editing once the UK is free from EU regulation at the end of the year will provide a real boost to researchers and farmers, says the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB).
The government is due to launch a consultation on the subject in the next few weeks, but recent comments from Defra secretary George Eustice suggest he is keen to encourage such new breeding techniques (NBT).
In a recent discussion with NFU president Minette Batters, Mr Eustice said that, when it came to conventional genetic modification (GM) – taking a gene from one plant or animal and putting it into another plant of an entirely different genus – there were still ethical and food safety concerns.
“We probably wouldn’t change the EU rules that are already there, although we would make them work in a more effective way that doesn’t allow politics to get in the way of scientific judgements,” he said.
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But Mr Eustice added the government was much more supportive of gene editing.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) made an “error of judgement” in saying that gene editing – for example, taking a gene from one strain of wheat and putting it into another strain of wheat – should be treated the same as GM.
