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Gentle modification: the EU and GM crops

Europe has long been GM-free: crops with genes that have been modified in some way may not (with very few exceptions) be grown in the European Union. That may be about to change. Today the European Parliament will debate a proposal to lift the EU-wide ban and instead allow national governments to impose their own restrictions. Governments have approved the idea and the parliament is likely to follow suit (though, knowing that institution, anything is possible). That won’t mean a sudden breakthrough for GM crops: most national governments oppose them and could apply stricter rules than the EU. And lately it has also become clearer that much new farm research—into drought-tolerant rice, for example—is relying less on GM techniques. Still, new GM crops including potatoes and aubergines are ready for trial, and a few European countries, such as Britain, want to try them.

Jan 13th 2015
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