Will the recent EU ruling on CRISPR stifle innovation in food & ag?
The recent decision by the European Court of Justice to treat the genome editing technique CRISPR-Cas as a form of genetic modification with strict rules has resulted in cancelled research projects and companies relocating some their R&D outside of Europe, according to an article in Resource magazine, a publication of Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Wageningen, Netherlands.
The recent decision by the European Court of Justice to treat the genome editing technique CRISPR-Cas as a form of genetic modification with strict rules has resulted in cancelled research projects and companies relocating some their R&D outside of Europe, according to an article in Resource magazine, a publication of Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Wageningen, Netherlands.
The court ruling means that crops that were improved using CRISPR-Cas have to undergo a time-consuming and expensive approval procedure before they can be grown or traded. In countries such as the U.S. and Japan, CRISPR-Cas is not covered by that GMO rule, enabling plant breeders in those countries to develop and market new varieties much faster. The court’s decision will put the Dutch plant breeding sector at a disadvantage, concludes Ernst van den Ende, director of the Plant Sciences Group, WUR.
The largest Dutch trader in seed potatoes, HZPC, will move its research on CRISPR-Cas outside the EU. In an article in the trade journal Boerderij, HZPC director Gerard Backx declared, “This means we won’t be able to be as innovative as we would like for our European potato growers. I really regret this. We’ll have to move some of our research outside Europe, which will only benefit non-European growers.” German plant breeding company KWS, which markets mainly maize, sugar beets, cereals and potatoes, will move part of its R&D from Europe to the U.S. because of the ruling.
But there may be some wiggle room for CRISPR R&D, at least in the Netherlands. In an article published last month in NL Times, Dutch minister of agriculture Carola Schouten believes CRISPR-Cas genome editing could be part of her efforts to make agriculture in the Netherlands more sustainable.
Before becoming minister, Schouten was an ardent supporter of organic. “Over the years I have come to realize that my view was far too limited. For CRISPR-Cas, I would like to have room for experimentation,” Schouten noted. She is currently working with companies, farmers, and WUR to investigate the possibilities for experimenting with CRISPR and will send parliament a letter about their progress in the near future.