Recent comment from Andrew Gilchrist on gene editing:
“Conventional plant breeding has delivered great improvements in yields, quality and other important agronomic traits over the last 50 years. However we are now at a point where the precision and development time required to combat the challenges of climate change, population growth and resource efficiency will simply take too long using ‘old’ tech. Gene editing technologies present fantastic opportunities to speed up the breeding process leading to varieties that are more ‘climate proof’, less needy of synthetic fertilisers and chemicals and which will reduce farmings environmental impact. Politicians need to move on from the negative and outdated GM scaremongering and embrace new technologies which will be vital in maintaining a competitive arable sector.”
