Beijing. China approved the safety of gene-edited wheat for the first time, in a step to open the technology to food crops as Beijing cautiously moves forward with commercial cultivation of genetically modified crops.
In the last year, China has increased authorizations for genetically modified corn and soybean seeds, which are more productive and resistant to insects and herbicides, to ensure their food security, but adoption remains slow and cautious due to concerns about their impact on health and ecology.
China primarily imports genetically modified crops, such as corn and soybeans, for animal feed, and grows non-genetically modified varieties for food consumption. Many Chinese consumers remain concerned about the safety of genetically modified food crops.
The approval of disease-resistant gene-edited wheat is seen as a milestone, as the ingredient used to make pasta, noodles and bread is primarily grown for food consumption. China is the largest producer and consumer of wheat in the world.
“It’s a big step, we can see the light for China to open authorizations to other food crops,” said a seed industry executive.
Unlike genetic modification, which introduces foreign genes into a plant, gene editing alters existing genes to change or improve their performance and is considered by some scientists to be less risky than genetically modifying them.
Beijing is also expected to approve new rules this year for the labeling of genetically modified crops used in food products, state media reported in March.
The Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday also approved a new variety of genetically modified corn with herbicide and insect resistance traits, as well as a higher-yielding variety of genetically edited corn.
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– 2024-05-09 00:16:25
