{"id":294002,"date":"2024-08-31T05:25:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T05:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=294002"},"modified":"2024-09-02T07:48:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T07:48:28","slug":"gene-edited-vs-genetically-modified-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=294002","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGene-Edited\u201d vs \u201cGenetically Modified\u201d \u2013 What\u2019s the difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kit Knightly \u2013 Off-Guardian Aug 30, 2024<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Have you heard? Gene-edited crops and livestock are here to solve all our problems!<\/p>\n

Yes, everything from pandemics to the cost of living crisis to climate change is about to get so much better.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that a relief?<\/p>\n

Five days ago, the WaPo reported<\/a> that \u201cgene-editors\u201d were:<\/p>\n

working to genetically engineer the cow microbiome \u2014 and in the process, eliminate methane emissions.<\/p>\n

Three weeks earlier the same outlet reported on gene-edited trees for making paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the UK we can expect the first gene-edited wheat<\/a> to be harvested this year. In the US, gene-edited salad leaves<\/a> aren\u2019t far behind.<\/p>\n

Japan approved \u201csuper-tomatoes\u201d<\/a> that can \u201clower your blood pressure\u201d years ago now.<\/p>\n

Genetically edited potatoes<\/a> are being created in South America. Wheat<\/a> in Egypt. Cotton and maize<\/a> in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

Back in 2022, I reported that gene-edited foods were already being sold to the public as \u201ccheaper\u201d<\/a>, \u201cmore nutritious\u201d<\/a> and \u201cpreventing future pandemics\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago The Japan Times declared<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to embrace a new era of gene-edited food<\/p>\n

Now, in case you\u2019re concerned, let me assure you they are talking about gene-edited<\/em> food, which is great, NOT genetically modified organisms<\/em> (GMOs), which we all know are a bad thing.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s the actual difference?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to tell sometimes, not least because the MSM still tend to use the terms interchangeably (for example the above Japan Times article uses \u201cgene-edited\u201d in the headline, but \u201cGMOs\u201d in the sub-head).<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s check the UK government\u2019s handy DEFRA\u00a0<\/a>fact sheet <\/a>from 2021 \u00a0for some clarification [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

Gene editing should not be confused with genetic modification (known as GM). Genetically modified organisms are those where DNA from a different species has been introduced into another. Gene edited organisms generally<\/strong> do not contain DNA from different species, they contain changes that could be made more slowly using traditional breeding methods.<\/p>\n

\u2026did you spot the super special loophole word?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s zoom in for a closer look.<\/p>\n

Gene edited organisms GENERALLY<\/strong> do not contain DNA from different species<\/p>\n

Hmmm. What an odd place to insert the word \u201cgenerally\u201d. A cynical person might say its presence renders the entire sentence meaningless.<\/p>\n

Nevermind, just rest assured that there definitely is a difference, even if that difference happens to be largely regulatory.<\/p>\n

Again, from the DEFRA fact sheet:<\/p>\n

At the moment, following a European Court of Justice ruling in 2018, gene editing is regulated in the same way as genetic modification. The UK Government is consulting on changing these rules in England, allowing gene editing research to be used to produce beneficial crops and livestock<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, interesting\u2026..<\/p>\n

Would it surprise you to learn that the UK government has<\/em> now changed those rules, via the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As of now the previous regulation on GM organisms no longer applies to \u201cgenetically edited\u201d organisms.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Act itself eschews \u201cGenetically Edited\u201d in favour of \u201cPrecision bred\u201d (probably because it sounds more natural), and defines a \u201cprecision bred\u201d organism as follows:<\/p>\n

(2)For the purposes of this Act an organism [animal or plant] is \u201cprecision bred\u201d if\u2014<\/p>\n

(a)any feature of its genome results from the application of modern biotechnology,<\/p>\n

(b)every feature of its genome that results from the application of modern biotechnology is stable,<\/p>\n

(c)every feature of its genome that results from the application of modern biotechnology could have resulted from traditional processes,
\nwhether or not in conjunction with selection techniques, alone, and<\/p>\n

(d)its genome does not contain any feature that results from the application of any artificial modification technique other than modern
\nbiotechnology.<\/p>\n

\u2026which still seems quite vague.<\/p>\n

Certainly, the potential is there for the difference between \u201cgene-edited\u201d (GE) and \u201cgenetically modified\u201d (GM) to become largely semantic.<\/p>\n

I noted in my previous piece<\/a> that the pro-gene editing PR campaign was global. And the UK\u2019s push for de-regulation is likewise mirrored worldwide \u2013 something which is always noteworthy in and of itself.<\/p>\n

In February of this year, the European Union voted to \u201cease regulation of gene-edited crops\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three weeks ago, the US-based Genetic Literacy Project headlined<\/a> \u201cIn hopes to cut pesticide use Switzerland edges closer to legalizing crop gene editing\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Just a few days ago, it was reported that \u2018Food Standards Australia New Zealand\u2019 (FSANZ) would be using a \u201cnew definition\u201d of genetically modified organisms that excluded gene-edited crops<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All this talk of de-regulating and \u201cnew definitions\u201d should make everyone raise an eyebrow. Clearly, the potential is there for the mother of all loopholes.<\/p>\n

The news is no better on the other side of the New Iron Curtain.<\/p>\n

Russia has always been the nation most vocally against GMOs, banning <\/a>their import, cultivation and distribution on Russian soil. This has been a source of much hope to those investing in the idea that Russia, and BRICS nations in general, are standing against the incipient dystopia unfolding in the West.<\/p>\n

Sadly, however, \u00a0Russia has been investing billions of rubles in \u201cgene editing\u201d since 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

China is going the same way. In May 2023 \u00a0it was reported that<\/a>:<\/p>\n

After decades of bans, China is beginning to plant gene-edited crops<\/p>\n

Exactly a year later, China officially approved<\/a> gene-edited wheat for human consumption.<\/p>\n

So, it looks like gene-edited crops are on the menu, no matter who wins the much-anticipated WWIII.<\/p>\n

Governments and Big Farmer companies all over the world are hailing the rise of brand new totally brilliant\u00a0\u201cgenetic editing\u201d technology, leaving the regulations on stupid old-fashioned \u201cgenetic modification\u201d guarding an empty room.<\/p>\n

This is simply the way of the world in the post-Covid, post-truth age \u2013 where the powers-that-be reframe, redefine and reinterpret words as they deem necessary. Facts are temporary. Reality malleable. Edit wikipedia and you\u2019ve changed history, if you ever need to you can just change it back.<\/p>\n

So far we\u2019ve been talking through the alleged differences between \u201cgene-edited and \u201cgenetically modified\u201d, maybe we should take a moment to discuss some similarities.<\/p>\n

For example, both GE and GMO seeds and crops could be patented<\/em>, handing huge amounts of power to a few international biotech giants to hold sway over seed supply, and therefore food supply.<\/p>\n

As Politico reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cPatent war looms over Europe\u2019s future supercrops \u2013 New rules on gene-edited seeds could pave way for half a dozen big suppliers to strengthen their market domination.<\/p>\n

Likewise, genetically edited crops could be subject to Genetic Use Restriction Technologies<\/a> (GURTs) or \u201cterminator seeds\u201d, meaning they cannot reproduce naturally. This, it is argued, is necessary to protect intellectual property and prevent cross-breeding with wild or non-GM species<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maybe that argument has some merit, but the real-world impact of sterile crops would be farmers entirely dependent on those same biotech giants for seeds every planting season.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s return to our opening question: What is the difference between \u201cgenetically modified\u201d and \u201cgene-edited\u201d?<\/p>\n

The answer is potentially quite simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenetically modified organisms\u201d<\/strong> are a relatively new and largely experimental technology with the power to hand control of the food supply to a handful of biotech firms and which are subject to extensive legal regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cGene-edited foods\u201d<\/strong> are a relatively new and largely experimental technology with the power to hand control of the food supply to a handful of biotech firms\u2026and which are NOT<\/strong> subject to extensive legal regulation.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Support Off-Guardian:<\/p>\n

Ko-fi<\/a><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biotech firms have found a way to get around peoples\u2019 instinctive mistrust of genetically modified foods. And at the same time circumvent legislation on what is officially \u201cGM\u201d. As Kit Knightly explains, the solution is \u201cGene Editing\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":294003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-294002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Fringe_Science_New_Discoveries_and_Developments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=294002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294005,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294002\/revisions\/294005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/294003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=294002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=294002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=294002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}