GMO News

Gene editing is not “precision breeding”, international scientists declare

International scientists and policy experts have presented a statement opposing the use of the term “precision breeding” to describe gene or genome editing. Led by Dr. Michael Antoniou, the statement is a response to the UK’s draft Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill, which would remove or weaken regulatory controls for gene-editing technology. “Precision breeding” is […]

Gene edited purple tomato hyped in the media while non-GMO purple tomatoes have been available for many years

A new genetically modified tomato manufactured by Norfolk Plant Sciences is “unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to a conventional tomato,” USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported in its first Regulatory Status Review of a GM plant under the SECURE rule. The deep purple tomatoes may thus be legally […]

GMO awareness leads to increased demand for non-GMO products

Six years ago, the state of Vermont passed what turned out to be a short-lived law mandating disclosure of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, on all food products. That law’s effect? A collective shrug of the shoulders. That doesn’t mean people don’t care about whether GMO ingredients are in their food, according to new Cornell […]

Who trusts and distrusts gene-edited foods? New study gauges public acceptance

Through CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies, researchers and developers are poised to bring dozens—if not hundreds—of new products to grocery stores with claims of benefits: mushrooms with longer shelf lives, drought-resistant corn and bananas impervious to a fungus threatening the global supply. A few, including a soybean variety that produces a supposedly healthier cooking oil, […]

Gene editing hamsters induced the opposite effect from predictions—creating enraged “bullies”

Gene editing can turn your beloved hamster from a Dr. Jekyll to a Mr./Mrs. Hyde. That alone shows the potency of the genetic manipulation tool—but even scarier is that the researchers who used it on hamsters had strongly expected the opposite result. University of Georgia scientists used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tool to remove a […]