This from the Genetic Literacy Project
New gene-editing tools are even more precise than the older methods. They can be used to make predictable changes in a selected gene and leave behind no extraneous genetic material. Such changes are just like the natural variants that underlie the domestication of agricultural plants and animals. And they’re the same as genetic changes introduced by the mutagenic methods used to produce most of today’s high-yielding grain varieties and such favorites as Rio Red grapefruit.
This means that many of the organisms produced using today’s high-precision gene editing will be indistinguishable at the molecular level from those produced by nature and by previous generations of breeders. This presents a conundrum for our current regulatory approach.
Fortunately, the solution is in plain sight: Confine regulatory scrutiny to the novel properties of improved organisms. That is, regulate the product, not the process, as the U.S. National Academies of Science and Engineering have long recommended.
Also valuable was the link to a
Decade of GMO Research.
