Topics / Climate, energy and science
Should genetically modified and gene-edited crops be widely used?
Whether genetically modified (GM) and gene-edited crops should be widely grown and eaten, and how they should be regulated, involves questions about safety evidence, environmental effects, control over seeds and consumer choice. In the UK the question is live because England has created a separate legal category for 'precision bred' (gene-edited) organisms, while transgenic GM crops remain under GMO rules.
Positions
- Yes: On current evidence, approved GM and gene-edited crops are as safe to eat as conventionally bred crops. Under proportionate, product-based regulation, their wider use can raise yields, cut insecticide use and help farming adapt to climate change.
- Yes for gene editing, caution with transgenic GM: Gene-edited crops whose changes could have arisen through natural mutation or conventional breeding should be regulated like conventionally bred crops. Transgenic GM crops, which carry genes from unrelated species, warrant continued case-by-case scrutiny.
- No, or strict limits: GM and gene-edited crops should not be widely adopted, or only under strict limits. They tend to concentrate control of seeds in a few corporations, carry ecological risks that may be hard to reverse, and reduce people's ability to choose how their food is produced.