Applications of CRISPR Cas and other genome editing tools for agriculture and food production provide exciting new perspectives for plant and animal breeding. They are pursued at a fast pace to develop a wide variety of increasingly complex traits in a broad range of agricultural organisms including major crop species and less commonly used plants as well as different farm animals. However, the development of such applications presents a range of challenges, such as agricultural requirements, regulatory challenges, the detection/identification of genome edited products, socio-economics, and ethical considerations. Approaches and policies for risk assessment and labelling and traceability that are currently in place within the different national regulatory environments need to take stock of these developments. Beyond regulations, complementary good practices and participatory approaches help address societal and safety aspects from an early stage of product development on and foster wider acceptance. Examples of such approaches already being implemented in other sectors include design-build-test-learn (DBTL), food safety culture, Safe-by-Design, Safe Innovation and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), amongst others.
This Research Topic focuses on the genome editing of plants and animals which are developed for application in agriculture and food production. With a view to the technical, agricultural and regulatory challenges for the use of genome edited organisms, the topics addressed in this Research Topic are:
1. Research and development of genome editing approaches for plant and animal breeding and the scope of agricultural applications that may be facilitated by genome editing tools
2. Developments in approaches building safety and other societal considerations into the development of agricultural genome editing applications based on DBTL, safety culture, Safe-by-Design, Safe Innovation, or RRI concepts
3. Development of improved safety assessment processes for genome edited products, e.g. through development of further guidance for risk assessment to address health and environmental aspects as well as aspects related to the sustainability of these applications;
4. New approaches to the detection, identification, and traceability of genome edited products as tools to facilitate the different requirements for oversight of such applications at a global level;
5. Regulatory developments relating to genome editing applications, i.e. ongoing policy developments, new approaches and the societal debate regarding the use of genome editing applications for agricultural and food production purposes.
We welcome the submission of original research reports (e.g. genome editing methods, development of traits), status or policy reviews (e.g. development of traits or technologies, approaches for risk assessment, detection and identification, development of regulatory policies), or opinion pieces (e.g. perspectives for genome editing in the agricultural context, stakeholder viewpoints) with themes including, but not limited to, the following:
• Genome editing methods and approaches to aid plant and animal breeding
• Development of genome editing applications for agricultural purposes to facilitate breeding of plants and animals with new traits to address current challenges in agricultural and food production
• Considerations taken during the design of genome edited organisms to ensure that the developed products conform to current standards of environmental and food safety
• Developments to establish and implement appropriate regulatory policies, including approaches for risk assessment, detection and identification of genome edited organisms
• Discussion of public perception of agricultural applications of genome edited organisms, including stakeholder viewpoints
Applications of CRISPR Cas and other genome editing tools for agriculture and food production provide exciting new perspectives for plant and animal breeding. They are pursued at a fast pace to develop a wide variety of increasingly complex traits in a broad range of agricultural organisms including major crop species and less commonly used plants as well as different farm animals. However, the development of such applications presents a range of challenges, such as agricultural requirements, regulatory challenges, the detection/identification of genome edited products, socio-economics, and ethical considerations. Approaches and policies for risk assessment and labelling and traceability that are currently in place within the different national regulatory environments need to take stock of these developments. Beyond regulations, complementary good practices and participatory approaches help address societal and safety aspects from an early stage of product development on and foster wider acceptance. Examples of such approaches already being implemented in other sectors include design-build-test-learn (DBTL), food safety culture, Safe-by-Design, Safe Innovation and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), amongst others.
This Research Topic focuses on the genome editing of plants and animals which are developed for application in agriculture and food production. With a view to the technical, agricultural and regulatory challenges for the use of genome edited organisms, the topics addressed in this Research Topic are:
1. Research and development of genome editing approaches for plant and animal breeding and the scope of agricultural applications that may be facilitated by genome editing tools
2. Developments in approaches building safety and other societal considerations into the development of agricultural genome editing applications based on DBTL, safety culture, Safe-by-Design, Safe Innovation, or RRI concepts
3. Development of improved safety assessment processes for genome edited products, e.g. through development of further guidance for risk assessment to address health and environmental aspects as well as aspects related to the sustainability of these applications;
4. New approaches to the detection, identification, and traceability of genome edited products as tools to facilitate the different requirements for oversight of such applications at a global level;
5. Regulatory developments relating to genome editing applications, i.e. ongoing policy developments, new approaches and the societal debate regarding the use of genome editing applications for agricultural and food production purposes.
We welcome the submission of original research reports (e.g. genome editing methods, development of traits), status or policy reviews (e.g. development of traits or technologies, approaches for risk assessment, detection and identification, development of regulatory policies), or opinion pieces (e.g. perspectives for genome editing in the agricultural context, stakeholder viewpoints) with themes including, but not limited to, the following:
• Genome editing methods and approaches to aid plant and animal breeding
• Development of genome editing applications for agricultural purposes to facilitate breeding of plants and animals with new traits to address current challenges in agricultural and food production
• Considerations taken during the design of genome edited organisms to ensure that the developed products conform to current standards of environmental and food safety
• Developments to establish and implement appropriate regulatory policies, including approaches for risk assessment, detection and identification of genome edited organisms
• Discussion of public perception of agricultural applications of genome edited organisms, including stakeholder viewpoints
