Articles

Controversial claims amended or deleted

22 February 2022 / Following an opposition filed by Testbiotech, the European Patent Office (EPO) has amended a patent on CRISPR/Cas (EP 3401400) gene scissors. The Nobel Prize laureates, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, are named among the inventors in the patent. The claims covering human, animal and plant cells were deleted, and intervention in the human germline explicitly excluded.

Testbiotech filed the opposition because the patent did not exclud human germline interventions or the commercial usage of human embryos, and therefore failed to fulfil legal requirements. A further reason for filing the opposition were patent claims on genetic changes in animals that would have been likely to cause suffering. According to Testbiotech, this final point still needs further clarification after the decision.

Former gene tech regulator Dr Joe Smith is now chair of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia (ABCA)

Australia's revolving door allows government ex-regulators, officials and MPs to serve the industries they once vetted as public servants. Dr Joe Smith has been appointed chair of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia (ABCA), which CropLife, the National Farmers Federation (NFF) and AusBiotech founded a decade ago to promote the agricultural biotech and chemical industries.

ABCA describes its new chair, Joe Smith, as "former national Gene Technology Regulator, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority and Director of the Therapeutic Goods Administration Laboratories".

Producing food safely matters, it matters for the environment, welfare, farmers, consumers and the hospitality and catering industry. So it is good news that the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee has published a report after considering the draft Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022.

The instrument, laid by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), proposes to remove the legal requirement for obtaining the Secretary of State’s consent, completing a risk assessment and conducting a public consultation before releasing plants with genetic modifications, which could have occurred naturally or been produced by traditional breeding, into the environment for non-marketing purposes.

A cross-party coalition of MEPs co-signed a letter to the European Commission demanding EU-funded research into the potential risks and analytical detection of genetically engineered organisms, stressing this is needed to create informed policies on the matter.

The letter sent 8 February, emphasises that the EU executive cannot just invest in EU research to advance genetically modified (GM) technology and its applications, but should also “urgently invest in EU research to deepen our knowledge of potential risks, and to enable the detection and traceability of GM products across the food chain”.

How we produce food matters. It matters for the environment, for welfare and for safety. It matters to the farmer, to the consumer and to the chef.

Our farmers are currently locked into a system of high inputs, profligate energy use and waste and environmental destruction. Nothing short of radical change will break this lock-in and yet there appears to be no change in sight. In fact, in England, we are about to create a new lock-in that could be even harder to break.

Scientists worry about ecological balance

15 February 2022 / A recent study from Brazil shows that genetically engineered fluorescent ornamental fish (zebrafish, Dania rerio) have escaped from breeding facilities in large numbers and spread into regional river systems. The transgenic fish are sold in various countries as ornamental fish for aquariums under the trade name GloFish. The paper was published in the Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment journal, and was picked up in the current issue of Science, among others.

Escape underlines yet again the inadequacy of GMO regulations around the world. Report: Claire Robinson and Jonathan Matthews

Fish genetically engineered to glow in the dark have escaped from fish farms in Brazil and are multiplying in creeks in the Atlantic forest, a new study shows. The GM fluorescent fish are designed for aquariums and are trademarked and marketed as Glofish.

Biologists worry that the GM fish could threaten the local fauna in one of the most biodiverse spots on the planet. "This is serious," ecologist Jean Vitule at the Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, told Science magazine. Vitule says the ecological impacts are unpredictable. He worries that fluorescence genes could be introduced into native fish with detrimental effects, perhaps making them more visible to predators. "It’s like a shot in the dark," he says.

A petition calling for a European conference on patents is finding increasing support. The goal is to stop patents on conventionally bred plants and animals. Recent examples of these include patents on barley, bush melons, lettuce and tomatoes. Many of these patents also cover food, including beer. The Free Brewers, which has members in Germany, Austria and Luxembourg, has now started a campaign to support the petition. The European farmers’ umbrella organisation, COPA / COGECA, previously declared its support for the petition.

“From our perspective, these patents are an abuse of patent law that weaken the protection of plant varieties and seriously restrict the freedom to operate of breweries. We, therefore, fear drastic consequences for the whole of our economic sector,” explains Jürgen Keipp, head of The Free Brewers.

Findings relevant for planned marketing of GE laying hens

10 February 2022 / In experiments with zebrafish, researchers have for the first time shown that unintended effects of CRISPR/Cas applications are inherited in subsequent generations. They also found unusual patterns of inheritance. According to the scientists, the findings show that the effects of CRISPR/Cas applications on subsequent generations need to be examined in much greater detail.

Previous experiments with CRISPR/Cas in zebrafish have found large structural changes at off-target sites. This means that the gene scissors can cut genomic regions outside of the target site, and thus cause specific unintended mutations. The experiments are part of basic research. In this context, zebrafish are seen as important model organisms. The researchers assume that unintended genetic changes at off-target sites can be more concerning compared to those at on-target regions, as the effects may go unnoticed.

Dear Commissioner Gabriel,

Brussels, 8 February 2022

We are writing to ask for a dedicated EU research into the potential risks and analytical detection of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) engineered with new genetic engineering technology, such as CRISPR/Cas.

These GMOs fall within the scope of the EU’s existing GMO legislation, which aims to protect public health and the environment from any adverse effects they may cause. At the same time, they bring new challenges for the application of EU GMO legislation:

 GMOs developed with so-called genome-editing technology pose new and different risks from both conventional breeding and GMOs commercialised today.

 Existing GMO surveillance strategies are insufficient to detect the presence of these new GMOs, especially when they do not contain foreign genetic material.