Gene edited crops to be given the go ahead by Government

I believe GE also includes gene transfer.
This is not just snipping a bit out Saetana.

Wheniwasyourage

It's my understanding that GE is the same approach as selective breeding, which has been going on for millennia, but is quicker as the genes are, for want of a better word, edited. Selective breeding requires time for the results to show.

GM, where a gene from one species can be put into another, has been linked to big pesticide firms (yes, Monsanto, I'm talking about you) as a way to make crop plants resistant to their pesticides, which can then be broadcast on to "weeds" in large quantities. Also for making plants sterile so that farmers, even in poor countries, cannot save seeds for future years. There has also been concern, I believe, about whether properties introduced to crop plants from other species (not necessarily even other plants), will spread into wild plants. This would not happen with GE plants as the genes edited were those of the plant already.

Hope that makes sense (and is accurate - the management accepts no responsibility...).

That's my understanding too, but I'm happy to be corrected.

Olive53

And yet you were happy no doubt to have a vaccine without vigorous testing being injected into your body ??

Which vaccine was that?

All the Covid vaccines underwent vigorous testing.

And yet you were happy no doubt to have a vaccine without vigorous testing being injected into your body ??

Urmstongran

I read an article on it last week.
I think it’s a good thing.

Why

I read an article on it last week.
I think it’s a good thing.

Its a way of speeding up the method that has been used for centuries of selective breeding to achieve certain characteristics such as disease resistance or larger crops. Nothing is added with GE, small bits are taken out instead. GM means adding foreign genetic material to food to achieve something similar. Gene editing should be far more acceptable to people than GM. It achieves the same results as natural selective breeding but in a far shorter period of time.

It's 2015 Maisie

Please don't think this is just about crops as it's about animals too.

Someone on twitter has pointed me this (undated) abstract of a research paper about gene editing

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26930114/

I meant to quote 'growstuff.'

Exactly. Wheat has been modified and hybridized to give better yields,but in the process, it has lost some of its nutritional value. I have just discovered Einkorn flour which is an unmodified wheat with more health benefits.
The thought of modifying crops is scary to me as the bottom line will be profit rather than health.

Apologies to all, because I really should have searched on gene editing, not gene engineering. Hope the article I linked to hasn't muddied the water further...

WhenIwasyourage we aren't just talking plants with GE. We are talking animals too.
As I said above, one benefit is (proponents say) they can edit pigs to be less prone to, say, swine fever but my concern is that pig farms are notorious for starting flu pandemics as they catch both human and bird as well as swine flu. Are we making a petri-dish in which to grow more zoonotic disease?
Will they mix other stretches of DNA?

The USA has already allowed GM salmon into the human food chain and now pigs. Is this GE the thin end of the wedge so to speak here?

The other thing I remember reading about GE was that they could breed pigs that don't need castration to prevent meat from "tainting" with boar hormones at puberty. They say this is in the pigs interest as it suppresses the development of the testes.

I don't know a lot about GE to be honest... but I DO know it's not just for plants!

The main difference between GE and GM crops is explained in the BBC article in the original post. Yer tiz....

"Gene-edited (GE) crops have much simpler genetic alternations than so-called genetically modified (GM) ones. GM crops often involve the addition of extra genes, sometimes from a completely different species; and in some instances the insertion of DNA from animals.

Gene-edited crops, by contrast, often just have genes snipped out of them, producing new varieties within months that could also have been produced by traditional cross-breeding but over a period of several years."

I believe the EU considers both GM and does not allow the technology.

I remember discussing losing the benefits of the EU laws protecting our food and agriculture standards with some pro-Brexit friends before the referendum. I was the only one who thought it was a potential problem, but then, I was the only one who voted remain.

It's my understanding that GE is the same approach as selective breeding, which has been going on for millennia, but is quicker as the genes are, for want of a better word, edited. Selective breeding requires time for the results to show.

GM, where a gene from one species can be put into another, has been linked to big pesticide firms (yes, Monsanto, I'm talking about you) as a way to make crop plants resistant to their pesticides, which can then be broadcast on to "weeds" in large quantities. Also for making plants sterile so that farmers, even in poor countries, cannot save seeds for future years. There has also been concern, I believe, about whether properties introduced to crop plants from other species (not necessarily even other plants), will spread into wild plants. This would not happen with GE plants as the genes edited were those of the plant already.

Hope that makes sense (and is accurate - the management accepts no responsibility...).

Ah yes, another benefit of Brexit. Those Europeans with their tedious rigorous testing processes. The race to the bottom at full speed.

Scones

My concern is that almost all GE crops are bred to rely on herbicides or insecticides by the same big companies who produce herbicides and insecticides.

Most pesticides and GE crops have been developed and patented by industrial agriculture for the benefit of its shareholders, and are not designed to benefit people or the planet.

This is rather along the lines of my thoughts although it’s put far better by Scones

growstuff

What do you fear about gene editing ayse?

It’s again a matter of trust. I realise that the EU treat GE the same as GM currently as insufficient evidence of no harms to the environment (enough problems already). As others upthread have said it’s the speed, the involvement of multinationals in the research. I don’t trust this government either except to line their pockets at the expense of others.

I’m going to have a read of the link supplied by MaizieD. It’s currently a search for some sort of informed debate. As another poster said this seems to have slipped in under the radar, or at least the mainstream media.

Perhaps I need to take the bull by the horns and look at The Guardian more often.?

NotSpaghetti

GE is manipulation, Shrub
It’s not cross-species though, apparently.

All plant breeding is manipulation and that's been going on for centuries.

I realise that NotSpaghetti, I was just linking the phrases that seem to have become commonplace over time with regard to the methods.

GE is manipulation, Shrub
It’s not cross-species though, apparently.

Genetic editing is also known as CRISPR and is not the same as genetic manipulation/engineering, gmos. The terminology is confusing.

growstuff

GE crops are banned in the EU because the decision was taken that they come under the GM banner, but I don't really know enough about them. My understanding is that they're different.

I don't know whether GE crops are sterile. That's why I wondered if anybody actually knows.

One of the crops which would benefit from GE is bananas, which don't grow from seed. They're grown from bulbs produced by the dying plant, so I don't see why the growers couldn't harvest them as usual once they've bought GE plants to start them off.

Searching for GE foods isn't very helpful as it just brings up lots of pages which more or less say that GE is the same as GM.

But, interesting article, with links, here:

agbiotech.ces.ncsu.edu/q1-what-is-the-difference-between-genetically-modified-organisms-and-genetically-engineered-organisms-we-seem-to-use-the-terms-interchangeably/

GE crops are banned in the EU because the decision was taken that they come under the GM banner, but I don't really know enough about them. My understanding is that they're different.

I don't know whether GE crops are sterile. That's why I wondered if anybody actually knows.

One of the crops which would benefit from GE is bananas, which don't grow from seed. They're grown from bulbs produced by the dying plant, so I don't see why the growers couldn't harvest them as usual once they've bought GE plants to start them off.

I don't want sterile crops, poorer countries save the seeds.