A chara, – Crispr-Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), first developed in 2012, is described as a genetic scissor which can be used by scientists to change the DNA of animals, plants, and microorganisms with extremely high precision. It is different from genetically modified organism (GMO) technology, in that no foreign DNA is added, but a small tweak is made to an existing organism’s DNA.
Crop-producing countries such as the US, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Japan and Brazil have concluded that organisms developed with certain Crispr techniques are not regulated as GMOs.
Two crops with improved health benefits are already approved, high oleic soybean in the US and a high Gaba (an amino acid to help lower blood pressure) tomato in Japan.
In March 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US approved Crispr to correct a genetic defect causing sickle-cell disease in humans.
Currently, the European Commission is holding an “inception impact assessment” on how gene-editing techniques like Crispr might be regulated in the EU for crops.
Crispr has the potential to revolutionise agriculture, environment and medicine for the benefit of people worldwide.
It is of paramount importance that this technology is regulated in a proportionate manner at EU level and harmonised with other countries. – Is mise,
Dr THOMAS
McLOUGHLIN,
Mulgannon,
Loch Garman.