Abstract
New plant-breeding techniques have been boosting plant breeding, since only a few years but already first promising products are pushing to the market. In contrast to this, in many countries, the current Directives regulating genetically modified organisms have been established more than 25 years ago, especially in the European Union being based on clear differentiation between transgenic plants and conventional breeding. Therefore, the question arises if these Directives are suitable to face the new challenge of genetic engineering or if there is a need for updated regulations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Araki M, Ishii T (2015) Towards social acceptance of plant breeding by genome editing. Trends Plant Sci 20(3):145–149
Arber W (2010) Genetic engineering compared to natural genetic variations. New Biotechnol 27(5):517–521
BMEL (German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture) (2016) Entwurf eines Vierten Gesetzes zur Änderung des Gentechnikgesetzes. http://www.bmel.de/GGTSPU-styx1.jki.bund.de-5192-480787-7g47dLR69z0jsu45-DAT/SharedDocs/Downloads/Landwirtschaft/Pflanze/GrueneGentechnik/EntwurfAenderungGenTG_Kabinett.pdf?__blob=publicationFile. Accessed 11 Nov 2016]
Bortesi L, Fischer R (2015) The CRISPR/Cas9 system for plant genome editing and beyond. Biotechnol Adv 33:41–52
BVL (German Federal Agency for Consumer Protection and Food Safety) (2016) Opinion on the legal classification of new plant breeding techniques, in particularODMand CRISPR-Cas9. (revised 31.10.2016). https://www.bvl.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/06_Gentechnik/Opinion_on_the_legal_classification_of_New_Plant_Breeding_Techniques.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2. Accessed 11 Nov 2016
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (2010) Guidance on the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants. EFSA J 8(11):1879
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (2011) Guidance for risk assessment of food and feed from genetically modified plants. EFSA J 9(5):2150
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (2012a) Scientific opinion addressing the safety assessment of plants developed using zinc finger nuclease 3 and other site-directed nucleases with similar function. EFSA J 2012(10):2943
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (2012b) Scientific opinion addressing the safety assessment of plants developed through cisgenesis and intragenesis. EFSA J 10(2):2561
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (2015) Genetically modified organisms UNIT. Mandate Number: M-2015-0183. http://registerofquestions.efsa.europa.eu/roqFrontend. Accessed 11 Nov 2016
EPSO (European Plant Science Organization) (2015) Crop genetic improvement technologies. http://www.epsoweb.org/file/2147. Accessed 11 Nov 2016
European Parliament (2016) Resolution of 7 June 2016 on technological solutions for sustainable agriculture in the EU (2015/2225(INI). http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0251. Accessed 11 Nov 2016
European Parliament and European Council (2001) Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC—Commission Declaration. Off J 106:1–39
European Parliament and European Council (2003) Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed (text with EEA relevance). Off J L 268:1–23
European Parliament and European Council (2009) Directive 2009/41/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on the contained use of genetically modified microorganisms. Off J 125:75–97
Huang S, Weigel D, Beachy RN, Li J (2016) A proposed regulatory framework for genome-edited crops. Nat Genet 48:109–111
Kyndt T et al (2015) The genome of cultivated sweet potato contains Agrobacterium T-DNAs with expressed genes: an example of a naturally transgenic food crop. PNAS 112(18):5844–5849
Lusser M, Parisi C, Plan D, Rodriguez-Cerezo E (2011) New plant breeding techniques: state-of-the-art and prospects for commercial development. Joint Research Centre Technical Report EUR 24760. European Commission Joint Research Centre, Brussels
Lusser M, Parisi C, Plan D, Rodríguez-Cerezo E (2012) Deployment of new biotechnologies in plant breeding. Nat Biotechnol 30:231–239
Memorandum (2015) https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/modernizing_the_reg_system_for_biotech_products_memo_final.pdf. Accessed 11 Nov 2016
Michael TP, Jackson S (2013) The first 50 plant genomes. Plant Genome 6
Ossowski S et al (2010) The rate and molecular spectrum of spontaneous mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana. Science 327:92–94
Schaeffer SM, Nakata PA (2015) CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing and gene replacement in plants: transitioning from lab to field. Plant Sci 240:130–142
Schultz ST, Lynch M, Willis JH (1999) Spontaneous deleterious mutation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:11393–11398
ScienceINSIDER, Cohen J (2016) Did a Swedish researcher eat the first CRISPR meal ever served? http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/did-swedish-researcher-eat-first-crispr-meal-ever-served. Accessed 11 Nov 2016
Sprink T, Metje J, Hartung F (2015) Plant genome editing by novel tools: TALEN and other sequence specific nucleases. Curr Opin Biotechnol 32:47–53
Sprink T, Eriksson D, Schiemann J, Hartung F (2016) Regulatory hurdles for genome editing: process- vs. product-based approaches in different regulatory contexts. Plant Cell Rep 35(7):1493–1506
The Council of the European Communities (1990a) Council Directive 90/219/EEC of 23 April 1990 on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms. Off J 117:227–247
The Council of the European Communities (1990b) Council Directive 90/220/EEC of 23 April 1990 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms. Off J 117:15–27
USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) (2016) Agricultural Biotechnology Annual France 2016. http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Agricultural%20Biotechnology%20Annual_Paris_France_10-19-2016.pdf. Accessed 11 Nov 2016
Whelan AI, Lema MA (2015) Regulatory framework for gene editing and other new breeding techniques (NBTs) in Argentina. GM Crops Food 6(4):253–265
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sprink, T., Metje, J., Schiemann, J. et al. Plant genome editing in the European Union—to be or not to be—a GMO. Plant Biotechnol Rep 10, 345–351 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11816-016-0418-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11816-016-0418-3