by Laura Mackain-Bremner, partner, Clarke Willmott

I was delighted to be present in January when Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, announced plans to introduce secondary legislation to allow “precision breeding” in plants at the Oxford Farming Conference.   

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act became law in England this month, but secondary legislation is needed to put a regulatory framework in place and make the legislation usable.

The introduction of this framework is a game-changer as it will allow farmers and growers in England to genetically-edit plants – putting this country at the forefront of agri-food development, along with Argentina, Australia, Brazil and Japan - and far ahead of the EU nations.

The Act provides opportunities to grow crops that are more nutritious and resilient, with the aim of increasing production rates and cutting costs for farmers.

What is precision breeding?

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) defines precision breeding as “a way of changing the DNA of plants or animals in a precise way, using techniques including gene-editing".

The key distinction between precision breeding and genetic modification is that any changes must be equivalent to those that could have been achieved using traditional breeding methods.

What does the Act mean for producers and consumers in England?

The Act grants Ministers in England the authority to decide how precision bred plants and animals (PBOs) are to be regulated. Central to this is the FSA, which is in the process of establishing a proportionate and scientific regulatory framework to assess the safety of PBOs for consumption.

According to the FSA, PBOs will only be authorised for consumption if they pose no health risks, are not misleading to consumers, and do not have a lower nutritional value than their traditionally bred counterparts.

A readily available public register of all PBOs authorised for use in food and feed will be published online and could potentially include further information, such as details about allergens.

This legislation is expected to clarify how precision breeding technologies can be used and set out how PBOs will be brought onto the market. Once these measures have been established, we should begin to see the introduction of PBOs within the agri-food market in England.

The evolution of precision breeding technologies presents exciting opportunities for both producers and consumers. Some examples include:

• scientists in the Netherlands have been able to produce coeliac-safe wheat by removing the part of its DNA responsible for causing the symptoms of coeliac disease.
• the Sainsbury Laboratory has developed mildew-resistant tomato plants, which could minimize the need for fungicides in greenhouses.
• Vitamin D fortified tomatoes have been produced by the John Innes Centre to help tackle deficiencies linked to greater risks of cancer, dementia and many common causes of death.
• UK-based company Tropic Biosciences has developed bananas resilient to the fungal Fusarium wilt disease.
• Biologists from the University of Oxford suggest that precision breeding may allow for longer strawberry seasons in England and the production of climate-resistant lettuce.

National Farmers’ Union vice-president Rachel Hallos believes precision breeding “can help achieve our net zero goals by enhancing crop and livestock productivity while supporting health, biodiversity and sustainable farming”.

What about livestock?

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act allows for genetic modification of animals but at the moment there is no sign of the secondary legislation being expanded to allow this technology in animal genetics.

Having spoken with an expert pig geneticist at the Oxford Farming Conference, I can see the benefits to this technology particularly in relation to eradication of disease.

As he put it, imagine if we could use genetic modification to eliminate TB in cattle – would this change your opinion on genetic modification?

Laura Mackain-Bremner is a partner in the commercial and private client litigation team at national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP