Researchers Propose New Framework for Regulating Engineered Crops

A Policy Forum article published today in Science calls for a new approach to regulating genetically engineered (GE) crops, arguing that current approaches for triggering safety testing vary dramatically among countries and generally lack scientific merit – particularly as advances in crop breeding have blurred the lines between conventional breeding and genetic engineering.

Rather than focusing on the methods and processes behind the creation of a GE crop to determine if testing is needed, a more effective framework would examine the specific new characteristics of the crop itself by using so-called “-omics” approaches, the article asserts. In the same way that biomedical sciences can use genomic approaches to scan human genomes for problematic mutations, genomics can be used to scan new crop varieties for unexpected DNA changes.

Additional “-omics” methods such as transcriptomics, proteomics, epigenomics and metabolomics test for other changes to the molecular composition of plants. These measurements of thousands of molecular traits can be used like a fingerprint to determine whether the product from a new variety is “substantially equivalent” to products already being produced by existing varieties – whether, for example, a new peach variety has molecular characteristics that are already found in one or more existing commercial peach varieties.

Read more at: North Carolina State University

Safety testing would be recommended for products with new characteristics that have the potential for health or environmental effects, or for products with differences that cannot be interpreted, Most new varieties would not trigger a need for regulation. (Photo Credit: NC State University)