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The Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) in Luxembourg has issued a landmark decision which also concerns Swiss agriculture. As a result, crops grown using modern genetic engineering methods, such as Crispr / Cas gene scissors, are subject to the EU Genetic Engineering Directive. This means that manufacturers of high varieties using new molecular techniques and genetically indistinguishable from conventional varieties have to meet much stricter safety requirements and ensure tracking and traceability.
The verdict comes as a surprise. In view of the decision, Michal Bobek, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, made a different final recommendation. For Bobek, the so-called mutagenesis, for which there has always been an exception clause in the European directive on voluntary releases, was crucial. Mutagenesis refers to the artificial production of point changes in the genome of a living being. Such mutations occur in biological organisms even without human intervention, for example by sunlight. For plant breeding, they are central because only mutations bring new properties.
Desired mutations without collateral damage
For decades, mutations have been reproduced by radioactive radiation and chemical substances (see graph). Mutagenesis caused in this way is called undirected because, although thousands of mutations occur at a time, but without knowing where in the genome. That's what you need to know about many level crossings. New genetic technologies, which include genome editing and gene scissors, can produce a desired mutation directly and specifically in the genome – without the collateral damage of radiation and chemistry, and much more rapidly.
Molecular biologists have now developed new techniques for modifying genetic material, which are almost never produced in nature and are therefore clearly subject to the strict regulation of European and Swiss directives on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). . These modern methods, such as Crispr / Cas, make categorization more difficult. On the one hand, because we do not usually create transgenic plants that are spiced with foreign genetic material. On the other hand, because the results often can not be distinguished from conventional breeding.
"I do not think the European Commission will change the guidelines." Markus Hardegger, Federal Office of Agriculture
therefore, the decision of the ECJ surprised. The decision states that "organisms obtained by mutagenesis" are GMOs, "since methods and methods of mutagenesis do not naturally alter the genetic material of an organism". However, this reasoning contradicts the assessment of most experts. For example, Frank Hartung of the German Federal Center for Crop Research in Berlin told Science Media Center: "Thanks to the genome edition, it is possible to produce in the laboratory plants that are not different from the cross plants with wild species. Urs Niggli, director of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick, quotes: "In new farming techniques such as Crispr / Cas works with mutations that are also caused by natural breaks in DNA. "
French farmers sued
The European Commission in Brussels had to consult as early as 2015, as the legal procedures had to be followed but one appointment after the next was postponed. At the same time, genetic engineers have developed Crispr / Cas technology ever further. This profitable gap is not the only process being discussed. But Crispr / Cas has revolutionized the life sciences over the last five years, opening up unsuspected opportunities for plant breeders.
For some too much. In autumn 2016, the Confederation Paysanne organic farmers' union and eight other organic associations turned to the Supreme Court in France. They all asked that new genetic engineering be regulated as genetic engineering within the meaning of existing laws. The French court has referred the case to the European Court of Justice, which has now approved it. Farmers succeeded in doing what the Commission had missed in Brussels: to clarify.
The decision is binding on all EU Member States and the European Commission. Although the EU Commission could change the law or the corresponding guidelines, but the effort would be great, says Markus Hardegger, head of genetic resources and technologies at the Federal Office of the Agriculture (FOAG). "I do not think they will because of the political situation."
Graphic: Difference between the traditional method and the Genscher method
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According to Hardegger, for Switzerland, the verdict means above all: There is now a legal certainty. However, the Federal Council will be limited in its decision on new methods, which is expected by the end of the year. A solo effort in Europe, so less regulated treatment, or even the American – in the United States, genetically modified plants are not regulated at all – would be almost unthinkable. In other words, in this country too, plant varieties that have been multiplied with new molecular methods such as Crispr / Cas will in the future be treated as GM varieties.
While Europe is slowing down new technologies, elsewhere the development of new plant varieties is progressing rapidly. In the United States, where GM crops are unregulated like GMOs, at least five crop varieties are already growing in the field – for example, drought- and salt-resistant soybeans, high-oil camelina or edible mushrooms that do not brown. Precisely because technology is cheap and easy to manipulate, there is virtually no limit to the researchers' ideas.
The flow of goods is difficult to control
In addition, the new technologies are not only attractive to Agromultis as Bayer (with Monsanto) or Syngenta, they also offer small businesses or even agricultural cooperatives the opportunity to own one. develop adapted varieties. The precondition for this, however, is that new varieties are treated as conventional varieties. For GMO varieties, the costs of risk analysis, monitoring, etc. increase rapidly to infinity.
In the meantime, the question arises as to how, in the future, entire flows of goods or simply individual varieties can be controlled. Because the technology leaves virtually no trace in the genome of published plants, cultivars grown with Crispr / Cas are usually very difficult to detect. "With some effort, this is possible with individual plants," says BLW's Hardegger. "But with a mix, they have almost no chance." In the long run, it can not be ruled out, said Hardegger, that such plants or products also reach Switzerland.
(Tages-Anzeiger)
created: 25.07.2018, 21:16
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