Social Aspects of Crop Genome Editing

Genome editing is the new process in biotechnology that has made waves in all forms of the life sciences, yet many people still do not know what it entails nor can imagine its enormous potential. In agriculture alone, genome editing can create new varieties of crops which are resistant to pests and other stresses such as drought or flooding. Genome editing involves the ‘tweaking’ of a genome so that it is altered, through a technology originating from the research of recent Nobel Prize winners Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, based on a mechanism that bacteria make use of to avoid phage infection. Different types of genome editing exist, ranging from CRISPR, to TALEN systems to using Zinc Finger technologies. CRISPR has taken the forefront in recent years, particularly in medicine and agriculture. In terms of crops, genome editing ranges from making small insertions or deletions of nucleotides, not unlike what is often found in the wild, to the insertion of entire genes from other organisms. How these are regulated has become an issue for individual nations and their trading partners, as the latter more resembles what is known as a genetically modified organism (GMO), which are currently unapproved in the EU. The way that different gene editing events are regulated and accepted by the consumer will influence the direction of development for years to come.

This Research Topic welcomes the submissions of original research articles, policy reviews and opinion pieces that cover the following aspects, but not limited to:

· Transportation
· Changes in regulatory structure
· Consumer behavior and prospects for genome editing