FAO: Food Safety of Gene-Editing “Not Much Different” than Traditional Breeding Techniques
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released a report on food safety considerations for regulating foods derived from gene editing (also known as “genome editing”) to help national authorities develop and implement policies and regulatory criteria for food products derived from gene editing. The report provides a review of food safety related issues in applying gene editing for food production, including the applicability of existing Codex Alimentarius principles and guidelines for relevant food safety assessments, and offers key considerations for food safety regulations.
In the report, FAO defines “gene editing” as “an umbrella term for various techniques based in molecular biology used for introducing targeted changes in the genome of living organisms,” which can be used to breed new plant varieties, animal breeds, and microbial strains for agricultural purposes. Gene editing techniques can quite effectively deliver the desired change in a DNA sequence. Gene editing techniques include: