We have now heard that Health Canada is likely to treat gene-edited crops differently from genetically modified crops, or GMOs, which means the oversight provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency would look very much like the one we see for conventionally bred crops.
This issue is obviously far removed from consumers but will certainly affect them.
This time, Health Canada would get it right. Genetic modification is different from gene editing.
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Genetic modification typically involves artificially inserting genes into the genome of a plant or animal. Gene editing can instantly, in a very targeted way, edit parts of a genome by eliminating, correcting, or adding sections of a plant’s DNA.
Gene editing typically doesn’t involve introducing genes from other species, but these techniques allow quite complex control of an organism’s genome. With gene editing, many years of research can be saved by doing similar adjustments through conventional breeding.
Biological and anti-GMO enthusiasts will claim both are the same. They simply are not. In fact, many countries, including some in Europe, are now rewriting their regulations for genetically modified seeds to reflect what gene editing can do. This biological compromise is different from unnaturally crossing breeds to create a new plant.
This is welcome news for everyone, including consumers who barely understand the ramifications of such a decision. Gene editing will impact agriculture and will make our farms more efficient. But consumers will benefit from gene editing without realizing it.
For one, by making crop production more efficient, crop yields can increase by using less land, less water, and fewer natural resources. In other words, gene editing can make agriculture even more sustainable. By tweaking the DNA of plants, crops can adapt faster to climate change. This would be a huge welcome boost for a sector highly vulnerable to Mother Nature’s wrath. Plants can be designed to resist drought, diseases, and pathogens, in turn helping farmers in Canada, and other parts of the world where farmers are often impoverished by climate change. Banana production is a good example.
The other benefit provided by gene editing is that the nutritional composition of a plant can be changed for the better. For plant-based aficionados, protein content in crops can be increased to make processing plant-based products more efficient and cheaper. Fat content in crops can be lowered as well. This would mean less processing for the food we buy. Reducing food waste is another feature. The food we waste is the one food bill we never get, but always pay, as consumers, and gene editing can help on that front. Lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, can see their shelf life extended as they could ripen later. Supply chain woes we are currently facing are shortening the shelf life of many food products we buy at retail. Gene editing can help.
If you have allergies or intolerances, again, gene editing can play a role as well. For example, non-gluten wheat can make bread and pasta edible for those who suffer from celiac disease. More than three million Canadians self-report having at least one food allergy, and a million others have food intolerances. Science can now make some food less frightening for millions of Canadians. The possibilities are endless.
But gene editing is no panacea for all our ills in food. Fearmongering groups have already started to express concerns about gene editing. And to a certain extent, these groups are rightly sending the message that more research is needed, and we should all move forward with extreme caution. In science, nothing is an absolute or perfect, and we need to appreciate the risks involved with gene editing over time.
The other challenge is transparency. Every day, we are all exposed to food products which include genetically modified ingredients, without knowing where they are. Over 75 per cent of all food products sold in a regular grocery store in Canada can contain some form of genetically modified ingredient, and labels make no mention of it. In Canada, there’s a good chance you may have eaten genetically modified salmon without knowing it. It’s perfectly legal.
To get consumers to befriend technologies which make our agriculture more efficient and more beneficial for all of us, the least we can do is let consumers appreciate how farm gate practices upstream benefit them. Most concerning, the majority of consumers either don’t care about or don’t understand these technologies.
For more awareness, identifying the presence of genetically engineered or edited ingredients at retail is the least we can do.
