Tag Archives: NGTs

Are Europeans warming to gene-edited foods?

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It won’t be long now: around the middle of the month we will find out whether the new European regulation on new genomic techniques (NGTs) will be approved in its current form or whether further compromises will be needed. This makes it a good moment to assess public perceptions of these technologies in agri-food applications. Are Europeans more open to NGTs than to traditional GMOs? The answers can be found in a survey commissioned by the European Commission at the request of the European Food Safety Authority (Eurobarometer 2025). The topic has returned to the spotlight thanks to an article published a few days ago by a group of experts on public perceptions of biotechnology in a journal of the Nature group devoted to sustainable agriculture.

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NGTs in the EU: why the new amendments should be rejected

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A French association and three German associations representing geneticists, agronomists, and other academic and professional figures involved in the field of plant biotechnology have sent a letter to Members of the European Parliament urging them to vote against the latest amendments concerning new genomic techniques (NGTs). The joint message is addressed in particular to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). It defends the text developed over years of negotiations by the European institutions (the Trilogue) and responds point by point to its critics. Further delaying the approval of the new regulation, the experts argue, would hinder the development of solutions needed to tackle the climate challenge and would damage Europe’s competitiveness (currently, more than 50% of peer-reviewed NGT research comes from China, while the EU accounts for only 15%).

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Edited plants in the EU: countdown to reform

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A little more patience. The European Parliament’s final vote, originally scheduled for March, has been postponed to late April, but the finish line is in sight. We should finally have rules that distinguish true transgenic plants (containing foreign DNA) from edited plants that do not contain extra genes and are indistinguishable from traditional breeding programs.

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My journey to Seville, where tomorrow’s sunflowers grow

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Anyone who has ever stood beside a sunflower knows the quiet astonishment of being matched, petal for head, by a flower. Now imagine weaving your way through tens of thousands of stems at eye level, each one tethered to the transparent ceiling by a white cord, as if suspended between earth and sky. Overhead stretches a vision in perfect symmetry: thousands of threads rising in parallel, anchoring a forest of blossoms veiled like brides at the altar, their vivid yellow only just shimmering through the gauze. It could be a contemporary art installation, but this is the greenhouse of the world’s most advanced sunflower research center. We are not at the Venice Biennale nor at Documenta in Kassel, but just outside Seville, at the Centro Tecnológico de Investigación de La Rinconada.

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Italian Food for Thought

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Food for Thought is a coalition of 18 Italian associations in the agrifood sector, established in 2017 to promote innovation in agriculture. Today, nearly eight years after the first manifesto, a new one has been presented to address the challenges of both the present and the future, including the climate crisis, geopolitical tensions, and changing consumption patterns.
The event was held yesterday in Rome at the initiative of Senator Bartolomeo Amidei, as part of the activities of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Made in Italy and Innovation.
Among the key points is the inclusion of New Genomic Techniques — a clear sign that there is widespread awareness within the Italian productive sector of the importance of genetic improvement, and that there are voices in the national Parliament willing to advocate for “innovative and sustainable agriculture.”

Will edited plants be patentable in EU?

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A year after the European Parliament voted to ban patents, EU countries still seek a compromise on NGT regulation

The revision of the regulatory framework for genetically modified plants currently underway in Europe aims to keep pace with technological advances and support the development of sustainable agriculture. The scientific community, the seed industry, and major farmers’ associations view the overall framework positively, but the devil is still in the details.

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Fall and Rise: Italy’s Journey from GMOs to CRISPR

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Italy has long been one of the most hostile countries toward GMOs, to the point of shutting down research in this field. Today, however, it stands among the most active EU members in testing New Genomic Techniques. How did this transformation happen? EMBO Reports features insights from some of the Italian scientists who have championed the defense of GMOs and the revival of experimental fields. Happy reading!

CRISPR vines make their field debut in Italy

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Testing of Chardonnay edited to resist downy mildew starts today near Verona, while the prosecco variety awaits its turn in the greenhouse

The president of the influential farmers’ association Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini, formerly very hostile to GMOs, as he plants an edited vine with his own hands in the Verona experimental field on Sept. 30, 24
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Will edited foods appeal to consumers?

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While the number of studies on this topic is limited, they generally align in indicating that genome-edited plants are more appealing to the public than GMOs. Supporting this assertion is an analysis set to be published in the June issue of Current Opinion in Biotechnology. Hans De Steur and his colleagues at the University of Ghent in Belgium conducted a review of data collected from various countries worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

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CRISPR plants – what the EU Parliament got right and wrong

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There is no doubt that this is good news: on February 7, the European Parliament approved the Commission’s regulatory proposal on New Genomic Techniques, covering also CRISPR plants. Some of the approved amendments (particularly the one on genetic modification of polyploid plants) have the effect of improving the text, others risk being a problem and should be reconsidered during the trilogue with member states (particularly the requirement to label all final products, even if they do not contain foreign genes). The European Parliament also brought in the issue of non-patentability of NGT plants, which would deserve to be addressed elsewhere. For more information, this is the position expressed on February 14 by European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO).