Farm staff at Rothamsted Research notched up a UK first this month by sowing seeds of genetically edited Camelina sativa just weeks after regulations for scientific field trails were eased, allowing much more freedom for researchers to plan their field experiments.

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Using a seed drill specifically designed for the relatively small seed numbers used in field trial work, the plot was prepared and seeded in just a few hours. However, the big difference was the time saved in applying for permission to conduct the trial.

Under previous regulations, trial sites had to be specifically identified and permission sought from DEFRA following a detailed application procedure. Now, under the government’s new Qualifying Higher Plant (QHP) status - the post-EU non-GM classification for GE crops, plants can be sown anywhere on Rothamsted’s farm. For the current trial, the approval process for QHP status took just a few minutes as opposed to the months required under the older pre-Brexit regulations which lumped GM and GE crops together.

Professor Johnathan Napier, who is leading Rothamsted’s research into genetically altered Camelina plants that can produce long chain omega-3 oils said, “The new regulations make it significantly easier to carry out research trials and we are very pleased to be able to take immediate advantage this. I am excited by the opportunities that the new QHP status will bring in terms of reduced regulatory burden and in advancing our research and development of oilseeds with improved nutrition and higher yield.”

Rothamsted is currently one of the very few sites in the UK where field trials of crops developed using new genomic techniques can take place at farm scale. Testing crops in this way field is an essential part of evaluating whether the promise of new traits has actual potential.

“Many traits are identified in the lab, but agricultural cultivation and the variable conditions crops are grown in bears limited resemblance to these controlled conditions. So field evaluation is a critical part of the process to deliver useful traits and societal benefit from our research,” said Professor Napier. “Previously, regulation made it very hard to carry out such trials for GE and GM crops, impeding innovation. Hopefully these new rules for GE research trials will encourage more researchers to move out of the lab and into the field to validate their discoveries.”