Queen’s speech trails gene-editing innovation bill
The UK government will implement the Genetic Technology Bill which promises to “remove unnecessary barriers” inherited from the European Union to bolster gene-editing technology.
Delivering the annual Queen’s Speech yesterday, May 10, Prince Charles set out the UK government’s agenda for 2022, detailing 38 bills, the majority of which were focused on growing the UK economy and addressing the cost of living.
Among these is the Genetic Technology bill, which looks to drive economic growth and position the UK as a leading country for agri-food research and innovation.
The bill looks to be part of the UK government’s overall push to promote local innovation and new scientific discoveries as detailed in the July 2020 Research and Development Roadmap.
Nicky Jenkins, legal director at UK firm Shoosmiths said that the bill aims to “enable universities and commercial organisations to carry out research in the generation of food with improved nutritional benefits, and less reliance on environmentally harmful pesticides”.
In an accompanying publication, the UK government said that the main benefits of the bill are to bolster the development of precision breeding technologies to “improve the sustainability, resilience, and productivity of agricultural systems”.
The bill also looks to “cement our [the UK’s] place as a science superpower, and to help meet the ambitions in the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan”.
Simplifying the process
The bill's main goal is to create a new “simpler” regime for precision bred plants and animals that have genetic changes arising through traditional breeding or natural processes.
As part of this, the bill looks to introduce two “notification systems” for research and marketing purposes where breeders will need to notify Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) of precision bred organisms.
It will also establish a new authorisation process for food and feed products developed using precision bred organisms.
Jenkins added: “Recent rises in the cost of living, in part caused by reliance on global resources which are currently affected by the war in Ukraine, shows that there is an urgent need for innovation and sustainability in the UK’s farming sector.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates some commitment by the government to ensure that the UK’s regulatory regimes support and promote innovation in key areas, as set out in the July 2020 Research and Development Roadmap”.
The UK government launched an agency in February 2021 to fund “high-risk, high-reward scientific research”.
The Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA) is an “ARPA-style” initiative backed by £800 million ($1.1 billion) in government funding. ARIA is independent of the government and is used to back ambitious research and technology projects avoiding “unnecessary bureaucracy”.
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