Why New Genetic Techniques Need to be Stringently Regulated

A new paper describes a ‘critical control points’ approach to regulating new GE techniques, defining risk as where the technology creates a divergence between the amplification of safety and harm due to human manipulation, allowing technical experts to collaborate with publics with different expertise to identify and manage the technology. […]

Gene-Silencing Pesticides Need to be Stringently Regulated

“Gene-silencing pesticides” under development pose unique risks to surrounding ecosystems and beneficial insects as well as to human health. They need to be stringently regulated and risk assessed in accordance with the Precautionary Principle. […]

CRISPR/Cas Applications Found to Cause Heritable Changes in Gene Regulation in Mice

CRISPR/Cas genome editing in mice can lead to unintentional epigenomic changes post modification, with generational persistence. […]

Why Genome Edited Organisms are not Excluded from the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Translation available)

We are pleased to share the Spanish, French and Portuguese translations of the new TWN/GeneWatch UK Biosafety Briefing, which sets out to show that currently deployed genome editing technologies and applications, including all techniques involving CRISPR-based systems, clearly fall within the Cartagena Protocol on Bisoafety’s definition of a living modified organism (LMO), whether they involve inserting, deleting or editing sequences of genomes. […]

Non-regulation of New GE Can Wreak Havoc with Natural and Agricultural Ecosystems

Without strict regulation of ‘New Genetic Engineering’ techniques, there will be substantial likelihood of damage to ecosystems, agriculture, forestry and food production. […]

First Open Source Detection Test for A Gene-Edited Crop

The first-ever detection method for a commercialised GM rapeseed/canola developed with gene editing has been published and is now open source, allowing regulators, food companies, retailers, certification bodies and national food safety inspectors to detect this gene edited crop. […]

Genome Editing Found to Cause Numerous Genomic Irregularities

A new scientific paper reveals that genome editing can cause genomic irregularities in the resultant GMOs, even if genes are not inserted, or inserted only transiently. This underscores the need for a process-oriented risk assessment, which would also improve the risk assessment of first-generation GMOs. […]

Risky Second-Generation GE Strategies for Africa

A new wave of second-generation GE strategies are being used to push risky biotechnological solutions to malaria and locust infestations in Africa, diverting attention and investment away from more effective sovereign systemic solutions to overcome ecological, economic and health crises. […]

Gene-Editing of Rice Found to Cause Unintended Mutations

CRISPR gene editing in rice varieties caused undesirable and unintended on-target and off-target mutations, according to a recent study. […]

Gene Editing More Error-Prone than Thought, but Errors Rarely Detected

Research has found that the standard gene-editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, frequently produces a type of DNA mutation that ordinary genetic analysis misses, suggesting that gene-editing is more error-prone than previously thought. […]