'Gene-editing can remove barriers for grass breeding'

ARTICLE

POLICY & LEGAL

Jan van Staalduinen, Friday 15 November 2024

169 sec

Europe slightly opens the door for genetic cut-and-paste techniques

Gene-editing, with Crispr-Cas being the most well-known technique, was classified as genetic modification within the European Union in 2018. The stringent restrictions that apply make practical use in plant breeding nearly impossible. Outside of Europe, the regulations are much less strict, creating an uneven playing field. According to Piet Arts from grass breeder Barenbrug, the door to relaxation is slightly open, but it is not yet a done deal.

What makes gene-editing interesting and valuable for breeders is that it allows for faster and more targeted genetic modifications than manual crossbreeding. Essentially, it involves removing unwanted DNA segments (cutting) and optionally replacing them with species-specific DNA segments of the desired composition (pasting). Breeding programs aimed at increasing disease resistance, drought tolerance, and salt tolerance in grasses could be significantly accelerated, which is, of course, good news for millions of users.

Gene-editing in brief

Over the past thirty years, scientists have developed various cut-and-paste techniques. One of the most well-known is Crispr-Cas9. This technique is derived from a natural mechanism bacteria use to defend against viruses. It relies on an enzyme (Cas) that acts like a pair of scissors, cutting the DNA or RNA of a virus to neutralize it. This cutting occurs at specific locations and is guided by a piece of guide RNA, which is attached to the enzyme and corresponds with the DNA segment that needs to be altered. After discovering this mechanism in 2012, later Nobel Prize winners Doudna and Charpentier, with contributions from Dutch researchers, further developed it into the highly user-friendly Crispr-Cas9 technique.

Not in Europe

'The issue lies in the regulations,' says Piet Arts, global research director at grass breeder Barenbrug. 'In 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that gene-editing techniques fall under the broader category of genetic modification. Consequently, very strict restrictions apply to the use of these techniques and to the multiplication and use of varieties bred through gene-editing. You can imagine that this decision caused a shock in the breeding sector.'

Piet Arts: 'The intention is to ease the regulations.'

In short: gene-editing works well, but not in the European Union. Also, plant varieties developed elsewhere using this technique, such as in North America, the United Kingdom, or Australia, remain out of reach for European user groups. This includes grasses.

Growing insight

However, there is hope. Many European policymakers now realize that not all techniques should be treated the same way. Modifying genes using 'cutting and pasting' is fundamentally different from modifying a genome with foreign DNA. 'That distinction is crucial,' confirms Arts. At the initiative of the European Council of Agriculture Ministers, a study was conducted on these new genetic techniques. In the summer of 2023, this resulted in a legislative proposal to divide the many new genetic technologies into two categories. The first category includes techniques and applications that bring about changes that could also occur naturally or through traditional breeding. The intention is to ease the regulations for this category, although conditions will still apply. The second category includes modification techniques and applications where DNA is significantly altered or foreign DNA is introduced. For these, the strict regime should remain in place.

Challenges

Arts notes that no new law has been passed yet and that it will take some time before gene-editing is truly allowed. After the legislative proposal passed through the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of Agriculture Ministers, it became clear in December last year that there was no qualified majority. Austria and several Eastern European countries opposed it.

'Since then, the proposal has undergone significant changes,' the insider continues. 'A new element is that gene-editing must be traceable throughout the supply chain and recognizable to consumers. This is particularly difficult to implement, especially in composite products. A second aspect is the new requirement from the European Parliament that gene-editing products cannot be patented and must remain freely accessible for breeding purposes. Industry organization Plantum supports this requirement. However, this is problematic, as it does not align with current patent legislation. A third amendment states that products that easily spread into the environment must be handled with extra care. Grass is a wind-pollinator, so this requirement is inherently problematic.'

Moving forward

Despite this, Arts hopes that the European Parliament and the Council of Agriculture Ministers will reach an agreement soon, resulting in broader applicability of gene-editing.

'We will raise our glasses when Europe relaxes the rules.'

'It is not that we must remain idle, but in Europe, we are bound hand and foot by existing legislation. In Australia and North America, we also have R&D stations, providing more flexibility to work with Crispr-Cas and other techniques. However, this is not as simple as it seems, especially when working with grasses. You are manipulating a small cluster of cells that must later develop into plants. Additionally, grasses are typically bred as populations rather than individual plants, making the process more complex and time-consuming. Nevertheless, gene-editing can undoubtedly remove barriers to grass breeding and accelerate breeding programs. That's why we will certainly raise our glasses when Europe relaxes the rules.'

This article was first published on November 15, 2024, on the website of Fieldmanager.

Barenbrug Holland BV

Plantum

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