8111224475?profile=original

Europe’s highest court ruled July 25 that crops edited with CRISPR technology should face the same tough scrutiny as conventional genetically modified (GM) organisms. [1]

The decision, handed down by the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), is a blow to many scientists and other proponents of gene-editing who had hoped that gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 would be exempted from existing European law limiting the planting and sale of GM crops.

Under the ECJ ruling, crops edited with CRISPR and similar technologies are subject to a 2001 directive that was intended for older breeding methods.

Kai Purnhagen, a legal scholar at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands who specializes in European and international law, explained:

“It is an important judgment, and it’s a very rigid judgment. It means for all the new inventions such as CRISPR-Cas9 food, you would need to go through the lengthy approval process of the European Union.”

CRISPR-Cas9 was designed to “snip away” bits of undesirable genetic code and replace them with more desirable ones. The 2001 ECJ directive was intended to apply to the insertion of entire genes, or long stretches of DNA, into organisms. It is supposed to be a very precise technology, but a 2017 study found the gene-editing technique can cause a plethora of unintentional genetic mutations.

8111224492?profile=original
Source: WeForum.org
Monsanto’s “Roundup ready” corn is an example of a GMO produced using transgenesis, an ‘older’ breeding method. The corn contains genes from a bacteria resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Roundup ready corn is designed to withstand being doused with glyphosate even as surrounding weeds are killed off. (Though in many cases, glyphosate fails to actually kill the weeds.) [2]

Monsanto received the first CRISPR license to modify crops in 2016.

The law exempts organisms whose genomes were modified using mutagenesis techniques, such as irradiation, which introduce changes to an organism’s DNA but doesn’t add foreign genetic material. [1]

The ECJ’s recent decision was made at the request of the French government which, in 2016, asked the high court to interpret the 2001 directive in light of new and emerging plant-breeding techniques.

Mute Schimpf, a food and farming campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, one of the anti-gene-editing groups involved in the court case, said:

“These new ‘GMO 2.0’ genetic engineering techniques must be fully tested before they are let out in the countryside and into our food. We welcome this landmark ruling which defeats the biotech industry’s latest attempt to push unwanted genetically modified products onto our fields and plates.” [2]

Related Read: New Genetically Modified CRISPR-Mushroom Bypasses USDA Regulations

In the United States, the government has ruled that GM crops are no different from those produced via traditional cross-breeding and pose no health or environmental threats.

Sources:

[1] Nature

[2] Smithsonian Magazine

WeForum

You need to be a member of Ashtar Command - Spiritual Community to add comments!

Join Ashtar Command - Spiritual Community

Email me when people reply –

Topics by Tags

Monthly Archives

Latest Activity

Drekx Omega commented on Drekx Omega's blog post The Fate of the Nazi Breakaway Civilisation, After 1945
""When researchers adjusted for doppler shift and examined the timing of Voyager 1's transmissions, they discovered a delay that did not match the expected trajectory. A delay that should not have been possible, unless time itself had been…"
8 hours ago
Shadar posted a blog post
Dear all,Today, we would like to tell you a little more about ourselves and our cultural social structures.How do Pleiadians and Sirians differ?The Sirians who already live in 6D and higher tend to have a group consciousness. This explains their…
11 hours ago
Edward left a comment on Comment Wall
12 hours ago
Drekx Omega left a comment on Comment Wall
"If maya is an obsessive glamour, based upon physicality, then wokeness ticks all the boxes for that definition...Such idealists obsess about skin colour and "white privilege," more than any sane person would...Rather than judging a person by…"
12 hours ago
Drekx Omega commented on Drekx Omega's blog post Wokeness is a “Maya;” an Illusion Focussed upon Physicality
"If maya is an obsessive glamour, based upon physicality, then wokeness ticks all the boxes for that definition...Such idealists obsess about skin colour and "white privilege," more than any sane person would...Rather than judging a person by…"
12 hours ago
rev.joshua skirvin posted a blog post
 1.) There have been 96 earthquakes around the world in the past 24 hours, many of which are in the strong “4s” and “5s” of magnitude, and when quakes occur in the ranges of “6.0” and above, they are considered quite powerful. A “6.7” magnitude…
15 hours ago
rev.joshua skirvin posted a blog post
 Loving unconditionally is the true path to the fifth dimension.The fifth dimension is not a physical place, but an expanded state of consciousness reached through the elevation of the heart. It is a frequency of love, neutrality, and unity.…
15 hours ago
Drekx Omega commented on Drekx Omega's blog post One Rebel Star Should Fall From The EU Flag's Circular Constellation and Rise Anew With Greater and Brighter Light
"Pushing unwanted and totally rejected policies on the British public, will only cause trust in the state to dwindle...About time British politicians, civil servants and corporate chiefs, learned about the LAW OF CAUSE & EFFECT...

A REFORM is needed…"
16 hours ago
More…