Breakthrough for New Genomic Technologies in Europe
EU Gives Green Light to Modern Breeding Methods
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After years of debate, progress is being made in the development of new plant varieties. With its approval, the European Parliament is paving the way for New Genomic Technologies (NGT) in plant breeding. This will allow plants, for example, to be better adapted to climate change. The German Industry Association for biotechnology (DIB) welcomes the vote as a strong signal for innovation, security of supply, and competitiveness.
DIB Executive Director Ricardo Gent comments: “This is a good day for research, breeding, and agriculture in Europe. New Genomic Techniques are not an end in themselves. They can help adapt plants more quickly and specifically to drought, heat, pests, and diseases. These are precisely the solutions needed if agriculture is to produce reliably even under more challenging conditions.”
With the European Parliament’s vote, research institutions, breeding companies, and investors now have greater planning certainty. It is now crucial that the new rules are implemented in a way that works in practice. The legal framework must ensure safety, create transparency, and enable innovation without erecting new bureaucratic hurdles.
“Europe has long debated new genomic techniques. Now Europe should use them responsibly,” said Gent. “The decision gives cause for optimism: scientific research findings and breeding advances can be applied more quickly in agricultural practice.”
Background
New genomic techniques are modern methods of plant breeding. They are among the precise tools of modern biotechnology and enable targeted modifications to a plant. In plant breeding, they can help develop traits more quickly that make plants more resistant to drought, heat, pests, or diseases, for example.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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