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Genetic engineering in the field or on the plate - the idea arouses deep-seated fears in many people in Germany.

Genetically modified organisms are accordingly very strictly regulated in the European Union.

For a long time, however, scientists and plant researchers have been protesting against the strict restriction, which equates to a ban.

A study has now been published that could have far-reaching consequences for regulation. It deals with the opportunities and risks of the new methods of genomic plant breeding. In 2018 the European Court of Justice ruled that new techniques must be treated in the same way as older methods of genetic engineering. As a result, the EU Commission commissioned a study in November 2019. To this end, many interest representatives and non-governmental organizations from various EU countries were interviewed. On the other hand, the scientific study situation was evaluated.

The report now comes to the conclusion that the currently valid EU directive is no longer appropriate for some of the new methods.

This was issued in 2001 and regulates the handling of genetically modified organisms.

Genetically engineered varieties must therefore be approved in a complex and expensive process and the products must be labeled.

Field experiments are very difficult.

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However, since 2001 the methods of genetic engineering have developed significantly. With the Crispr / Cas method in particular, researchers can also make very small interventions in the genome. The changes that result from such gene editing do not necessarily differ from mutations that also arise naturally and are selected by plant breeders. This enables them to produce varieties with new properties more quickly and in a more targeted manner.

The EU study confirms the potential of the plants produced using the new genomic breeding methods: They can help produce more resilient plants that are less susceptible to pests and less sensitive to climate change. The result is that the use of pesticides could be reduced. Products with health benefits are also conceivable, for example with a changed content of fatty acids. The technology could thus contribute to a more sustainable and at the same time competitive landscape, so the conclusion. The study also concludes that the plants developed using the new techniques are, in many relevant cases, just as safe as those grown conventionally.

“That is good news,” comments Christine Rösch, who heads the Sustainable Bioeconomy Research Group at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis in Karlsruhe.

"After the tough discussion in recent years, I am pleasantly surprised." The overwhelming power of the doubters has so far slowed the progress of green genetic technology in Europe.

“But you can't go to the other extreme and stir up too much hope,” says Rösch.

The global nutritional problem cannot be solved with technology optimization alone.

"If you only focus on that, you stop thinking in terms of alternatives."

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"The study is very encouraging," says Martin Qaim, who heads the Chair of World Food Economy and Rural Development at the University of Göttingen. The result coincides with the statements of all well-known scientific organizations. "The fact that the EU Commission has now officially confirmed this is an important step forward in the genetic engineering debate, which is sometimes very deadlocked in Europe."

"The study clearly emphasizes that the currently applicable genetic engineering law is no longer up to date and needs to be revised," says Qaim.

"We as scientists have been calling for this for a long time, so I am very pleased about this clear statement in the Commission study." Now, however, it remains to be seen to what extent the law and regulatory practice will be changed.

"The resistance to genetic engineering will not simply disappear with this study, neither in public nor on a political level."

There are objections above all from environmental protection organizations who insist on remaining residual risks.

In addition, organic farming fears that genetically modified varieties will be mixed up with conventional ones.

So at some point it could become impossible to advertise products as "free from genetic engineering".

A position paper published in the run-up to the EU study by the Federal Environment Ministry also shows that the hardened fronts will not dissolve anytime soon. Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) spoke out against exempting new genomic breeding methods from the previous regulation. “Even new genetic engineering is and will remain genetic engineering,” said Schulze on Tuesday. "This much-discussed question about genome editing processes such as Crispr / Cas was finally decided by the European Court of Justice in 2018," emphasized Schulze. "So I am currently seeing with astonishment that there are efforts to redefine new genetic engineering."