This week the USDA announced it had no plans to regulate gene-editing technologies like Crispr, opening the door to a boom in designer foods.
For years now, the US Department of Agriculture has been flirting with the greatest DNA manipulation technologies. Since 2016, it has given free passes to at least a dozen gene-editited crops, ruling that they fall outside its regulatory purview. But on Wednesday, March 28, the agency made its relationship status official; effective immediately, certain gene-edited plants can be designed, cultivated, and sold free from regulation. “With this approach, USDA seek to allow innovation when there is no risk present,” US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement.
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