2#Plant Breeding Innovation

The seed sector is an international business. Countries should consider the global impacts that different regulatory processes may have on global seed movement, exchange and access to germplasm globally, agriculture, trade and research collaborations. If policies for plants developed through plant breeding innovations are not aligned globally, this will limit the ability of researchers and […]

As products of plant breeding innovation began to near commercialization it raised the question of whether these plant varieties should be assessed and managed under existing GMO/biotechnology regulations, or whether they should be regulated in the same way as traditional plant varieties. The International Seed Federation promotes innovation in plant breeding, and advocates for government

Although unintended mutations do not pose unique safety concerns, plant breeders use well-established plant breeding and selection practices for new plant variety development that effectively identify and remove off-type plants while retaining plants with the desired, improved characteristics.  Off-types due to introduced mutations, regardless of whether they are spontaneous, induced, or through gene editing, will

Plant breeders use recent advancements such as gene editing to develop improved crops that are important to the agriculture food chain and the consumer, all while using well-documented and thorough quality management processes. As much as plant breeding is a process of selecting beneficial plant characteristics, it’s also a process of eliminating undesirable characteristics. That

Unintended effects are, as the term suggests, effects other than those which are desired. Unintended effects can be caused by unintended mutations. In the context of traditional breeding unintended effects can result from spontaneous mutations or from classically induced mutations through irradiation/chemicals. These unintended mutations can be numerous and can occur at random locations. With

The seed sector is encouraged to provide information about breeding methods that are used for various crops to a diversity of stakeholders including regulators, the agricultural value chain and the public. Due to different expectations from value chains and consumers around the world, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to information sharing that

Seed companies are encouraged to consult with stakeholders (including regulators and the value chain) when the use of gene editing is for the development of a commercial product and not purely for research and discovery purposes.

Yes. Gene-edited products can be detected, but it is more difficult than detection of GMOs. Generally, to detect a gene-edited product, additional information about the specific change and its location in the genome is required Gene edits often can result in changes that are indistinguishable from variation that could have arisen by various means (traditional

GMO detection relies on the presence of a ‘transgene’ or ‘GM event’ in the plant. This transgene provides a unique sequence for the development of DNA-based detection methods. Gene editing may not result in a DNA sequence change that is large enough, or unique enough to develop a detection method that is reliable for regulatory