The genome editing method CRISPR-Cas promises genetic improvements in crops and livestock without the drawbacks of conventional GM. Regulators have given it carte blanche, but will consumers also accept it? Much depends on how this latest agricultural revolution will be communicated, and whether its potential to empower a wider range of participants (rather than encouraging a monopoly of the GM/Monsanto kind) will be realised.
I've explored these questions in my latest feature which is out now:
Harvest time for CRISPR-Cas?
Current Biology Volume 26, Issue 20, pR903–R905, 24 October 2016
Restricted access to full text and PDF download
(will become open access one year after publication)
The mushroom Agaricus bisporus is the first food variant edited with the help of CRISPR-Cas technology and cleared by the US Department of Agriculture. (Photo: Leif K-Brooks.)
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