NGTs, the new GMOs. Identification methods

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NGTs new GMOs

The German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food reports the positive outcome of a study on effective methods of detecting and identifying plants whose genomes have been modified using New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), or ‘new GMOs’ (1,2).

1) NGTs, the new GMOs. The research

Leibniz Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Research (IPK) and Christian-Albrecht University (CAU) in Kiel initiated a three-year project in 2021 to develop analytical methods for detecting and identifying genetically engineered genomic lines.

The research was conducted on a virus-resistant barley line NGT, developed by IPK, and a fungus-resistant rapeseed line from the CAU laboratory. In both cases, genetic engineering interventions were limited to the deactivation of single genes using the CRISPR/Cas ‘genetic scissors’. (3)

The genetic material of the plant lines was completely sequenced as a basis for the development of the analysis methods. This showed that only the target areas targeted with the genetic scissors contained the expected mutations. In contrast, areas similar to the target area (off-target) did not contain any mutations.

2) Identification methods, the results

Researchers explored different methods to detect and identify the genetic modifications made in the two NGTs lines. Following approaches based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR, ddPCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). To reach the following results:

-ddPCR analysis on both lines, according to the final report, ‘could reliably detect both 0,9% and 0,1% proportions of the respective mutant in mixed samples.’ With possibility ‘generally considered quite good’ to also detect ‘various other mutations’;

-deep amplicon sequencing (NGS) was then used to identify other mutations in the gene pool of NGTs lines that are in close proximity to the induced mutation and are not present in the comparison lines;

-the accredited reference laboratories involved in the project have optimized the procedures and successfully tested their specificity, selectivity and applicability. The procedures and results have been recorded in draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The project partners have also developed the prototype of a bioinformatics analysis pipeline for NGS (deep amplicon sequencing) data.

3) Limits

The Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food, sponsor of the project, concluded that the work ‘confirms evidence of an analytical approach that could – in some cases – be used to identify modified genomic lines as such’.

A systematic review, however, it also reveals the need, at present, to know precisely the genetic mutation to be searched for. To ensure this, operators who wish to market NGTs plants should be obliged to provide genetic information and reference material.

It is necessary to also take into account possible random mutations caused by NGTs plants, or new GMOs. This is possible with a herbicide-resistant plant such as NGT rapeseed from the American company Cibus, since the intensive use of a certain herbicide can also lead to resistance in nature.

4) Future prospects

NGTs plants detection and identification will be possible in the future, the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture emphasizes, provided that corresponding research projects are initiated and promoted.

The already achieved results are enough to disprove the theories of Big Ag and the European Commission according to which the deregulation of new GMOs would be necessary also because NGTs would be indistinguishable.

5) Last call to Brussels

The EU regulation proposal will return to the Council for examination, after the vote in February by the European Parliament. (4) Industry operators and the retail have meanwhile loudly asked, as we have seen, to:

-respect the freedom of choice of operators ‘from farm to fork’

-apply the ‘polluter pays’ principle to accidental contamination by GMOs, or NGTs if you prefer. (5)

Dario Dongo

Footnotes

(1) Machbarkeitsstudie zu “Nachweis-und Identifizierungsverfahren für ge-nomeditierte Pflanzen und pflanzliche Produkte” abgeschlossen: Berichte wurden veröffentlicht. Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE) https://tinyurl.com/2bzmcx84

(2) The final reports of IPK and CAU are available at www.ble.de/ptble-DETECT
www.ble.de/ptble-RapsNMT

(3) NBT, the dark side of new editing techniques. Scientific review. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 6.3.21

(4) Dario Dongo, Alessandra Mei. New GMOs, NGTs. Green light from Strasbourg to deregulation. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 9.2.24

(5) Dario Dongo. NGTs, new GMOs. Letter from organic operators to EU ministers. FT (Food Times). August 12, 2024

Dario Dongo
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Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.