GES Colloquium | Jennifer Kuzma – Regulating Gene-Edited Crops
GES Colloquium, 2/5/18 - Jennifer Kuzma | Crop gene editing emerged just over a decade ago as a promising set of biotechnology techniques designed to more quickly and precisely introduce new or altered genes to change plant characteristics for better growth, product quality, processing, nutrition, or sustainability. Scientists in academia and the ag-biotech industry alike are promoting gene editing, through techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9, as the start of a second biotechnology revolution in agriculture. ...Continue reading "GES Colloquium | Jennifer Kuzma – Regulating Gene-Edited Crops"
GES Colloquium | Danesha Carley, NC State’s New Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science in Agriculture
GES Colloquium, 4/2/18 - Danesha Carley, NC State's New Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science in Agriculture | Currently, there is a lack of university programs in regulatory science specifically related to agriculture. There is a need for a new program that can provide undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education opportunities in regulatory science, and also provide a forum for the advancement of regulatory science in agriculture. With the importance of regulatory science for innovation in agriculture, and the leadership position that NC State has established in the arena of agricultural advances and technology, we are forming a Center of Excellence for Regulatory Science in Agriculture (CERSA)....
WP: Gene-edited farm animals are coming. Will we eat them?
“We’re at this inflection point in society, where gene editing is really taking off, and now is the time we could have a more sustained public conversation about how we want it used in our world and how we don’t want it to be used,” said Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. “All the polls indicate that people are less comfortable with animal biotechnology than plant biotechnology... A regulatory system cannot be based 100 percent on science or scientific risk, and values come into play when setting the standards.”...Continue reading "WP: Gene-edited farm animals are coming. Will we eat them?"
AP: Kuzma discusses need for case-by-case scrutiny of gene-edited foods
Per Kuzma, companies will have to be up-front about how these new foods were made and the evidence that they’re healthy. She wants regulators to decide case-by-case which changes are no big deal and which might need more scrutiny.“Most gene-edited plants and animals are probably going to be just fine to eat. But you’re only going to do yourself a disservice in the long run if you hide behind the terminology,” Kuzma said....Continue reading "AP: Kuzma discusses need for case-by-case scrutiny of gene-edited foods"
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Allan Hruska – Fall Armyworm: Towards Sustainable Management by Smallholders in Africa
10/16 Colloquium: Allan Hruska | Abstract: Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) (FAW) is an important crop pest in the Americas, especially in tropical and sub-tropical areas where it can overwinter. FAW was confirmed in Africa in early 2016 and has quickly spread across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Recently it has been confirmed in India and Yemen. It is now infesting tens of millions of acres of maize across Africa, and rapidly moving on to sorghum and millets....
Paul Vincelli – ‘Can CRISPR Displace Crop Pesticides?’
9/4 GES Colloquium: We are thrilled to welcome Paul Vincelli as our first invited speaker of the semester. Paul is an extension professor at the University of Kentucky in the department of Plant Pathology, as well as co-host of the Talking Biotech podcast! He will be available to have lunch and/or meet with folks during his visit on 9/4. Request meeting with Paul >>...Continue reading "Paul Vincelli – ‘Can CRISPR Displace Crop Pesticides?’"
Washington Post: Kuzma calls for mandatory regulatory process for gene-edited foods
“We need a mandatory regulatory process: not just for scientific reasons, but for consumer and public confidence,” Kuzma said. “I think the vast majority of gene-edited foods are going to be as safe as their conventionally bred counterparts. But I don’t buy into the argument that’s true all the time for every crop.”...
Jason Delborne appointed to National Academies Forest Biotech Study Committee
Dr. Jason Delborne has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences provisional committee on The Potential for Biotechnology to Address Forest Health, or Forest Biotech Study. The study will be looking at the potential uses of biotechnology to mitigate threats to forest tree health, identify ecological, ethical, and societal implications of using this technology in forests, and develop an agenda to address knowledge gaps in its application. ...Continue reading "Jason Delborne appointed to National Academies Forest Biotech Study Committee"
Politics “Trumps” Science in the Regulation of Genetically Engineered Crops
In recent years, the regulatory system for biotechnology products has not kept pace with newer ways of engineering organisms, such as through the use of gene editing like CRISPR-Cas9 systems. Under the Obama administration, progress had been made in clarifying U.S. biotechnology regulations. In January 2017, in the last few days of Obama’s term, several proposals were made for updating agency regulations and guidance documents. In particular, new US USDA regulations were proposed for GE crops. Fast forward ten months, and the Trump administration has pulled this proposed rule back to “start fresh” and reconsider the issue. This is no surprise, as it is not uncommon for new political administrations to recall regulatory policy for biotech. Many industry and academic scientists developing GE crops are pleased to hear about the Trump administration’s recall of USDA proposed regulations....Continue reading "Politics “Trumps” Science in the Regulation of Genetically Engineered Crops"
Genetic Literacy Project: USDA scraps overhaul of GMO and gene edited crop regulations that biotech advocates viewed as ‘unscientific’
“I think the real reason [for the withdrawal] is that the new proposed rule would have brought more gene-edited crops under its authority,” stated Kuzma. “And this new administration isn’t too fond of regulations in general.”...
Science: Trump’s agriculture department reverses course on biotech rules
It’s a predictable move by President Donald Trump’s White House to take another look at the policies of the previous administration, says Jennifer Kuzma, a social scientist who co-directs the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. “I expected them to eventually catch wind that this was something that USDA was doing, and reverse it.”...Continue reading "Science: Trump’s agriculture department reverses course on biotech rules"
Kuzma examines benefits, regulation of gene edited crops in EMBO
In this article, published by EMBOpress, researchers look at how new genetic-engineering (GE) technologies based on gene editing can help to generate crop varieties to address critical challenges in agricultural development. However, governance systems for these crops are poorly defined and currently uncertain....Continue reading "Kuzma examines benefits, regulation of gene edited crops in EMBO"
GES IGERT Students Research Deployment of Gene Drive Insects
A new paper from GES IGERT students, to be published by the Journal for Responsible Innovation, is now available online. Anticipating complexity in the deployment of gene drive insects in agriculture Jennifer Baltzegar, Jessica Cavin Barnes, Johanna E. Elsensohn, Nicole Gutzmann, Michael...Continue reading "GES IGERT Students Research Deployment of Gene Drive Insects"
Synthetic Microorganisms for Agricultural Use
By 2050, the world’s population is estimated to exceed 9 billion people. A challenge to this rising food demand is that crops will have to be grown on the same or less land as today. Additionally, global climate change is causing considerable uncertainty in the ability of the current food production system to adapt to an unknown future. To address these issues sustainably, scientists from many disciplines have been investigating ways to increase crop yields and prepare for a changing climate. Considerable effort has focused on enhancing the traits of the crop plants themselves, to enhance their growth, make them resistant to disease, or tolerant to environmental stressors like drought or high salinity conditions. Conversely, a growing area of research is looking at how microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, influence these plant characteristics....Continue reading "Synthetic Microorganisms for Agricultural Use"