The “AgroPages” online portal reports on the change to the regulation of new breeding technologies in Great Britain. The introduction of a more proportionate and science-based regulatory system for precision breeding will unlock huge opportunities for agriculture. New breeding technologies, such as genome editing, allow crops to be bred that are more resistant to weather extremes and pests and therefore have a reduced need for plant protection products. British scientists are already world leaders in the field of precision breeding. The proposed bill will further strengthen the United Kingdom’s position and increase its attractiveness for research and development investment.

“A crucial time for agriculture”

The bill will allow plants that have been bred with the help of genome editing to be brought onto the market. These are plants that have undergone genetic changes that could also have occurred naturally or been achieved with conventional breeding methods. It does not apply to plants that have had genetic material from a different species inserted into them. The Chief Scientific Adviser of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Gideon Henderson, told “AgroPages”: “This is an important time for agricultural science. The ability to use gene editing to make precise, targeted changes to the genetic code of organisms, in a way that can mimic traditional breeding, enables development of new crop varieties that are more resistant to pests, healthier to eat, and more resilient to drought and heat as climate changes”.

Heat-resistant wheat

Essentially, genome editing does not do anything that nature could not do. For thousands of years, people have been selecting crops with desirable properties and breeding them further. However, the new breeding methods allow this process to take place much more quickly and more efficiently. The time needed to breed varieties with the desired properties can be reduced to a minimum. This is an enormous advantage, especially in view of the ongoing climate crisis, as time is running out. The change in the law gives us the opportunity to grow a variety of wheat that is more resistant to changing climatic conditions. Researchers at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have used genome editing to identify a key gene in wheat that can be used to introduce traits such as heat resilience whilst maintaining high yield.