Food and environmental safety assessment of new plant varieties after the European Court decision: Process-triggered or product-based?

Future of durum wheat research and breeding: Insights from early career researchers

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) is globally cultivated for pasta, couscous, and bulgur production. With the changing climate and growing world population, the need to significantly increase durum production to meet the anticipated demand is paramount. This review summarizes recent advancements in durum research, encompassing the exploitation of existing and novel genetic diversity, exploration of potential new diversity sources, breeding for climate-resilient varieties, enhancements in production and management practices, and the utilization of modern technologies in breeding and cultivar development. In comparison to bread wheat (T. aestivum), the durum wheat community and production area are considerably smaller, often comprising many small-family farmers, notably in African and Asian countries. Public breeding programs such as the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) play a pivotal role in providing new and adapted cultivars for these small-scale growers. We spotlight the contributions of these and others in this review. Additionally, we offer our recommendations on key areas for the durum research community to explore in addressing the challenges posed by climate change while striving to enhance durum production and sustainability. As part of the Wheat Initiative, the Expert Working Group on Durum Wheat Genomics and Breeding recognizes the significance of collaborative efforts in advancing toward a shared objective. We hope the insights presented in this review stimulate future research and deliberations on the trajectory for durum wheat genomics and breeding.

Occurrence and Nature of Off-Target Modifications by CRISPR-Cas Genome Editing in Plants

CRISPR-Cas-based genome editing allows for precise and targeted genetic modification of plants. Nevertheless, unintended off-target edits can arise that might confer risks when present in gene-edited food crops. Through an extensive literature review we gathered information on CRISPR-Cas off-target edits in plants. Most observed off-target changes were small insertions or deletions (1–22 bp) or nucleotide substitutions, and large deletions (>100 bp) were rare. One study detected the insertion of vector-derived DNA sequences, which is important considering the risk assessment of gene-edited plants. Off-target sites had few mismatches (1–3 nt) with the target sequence and were mainly located in protein-coding regions, often in target gene homologues. Off-targets edits were predominantly detected via biased analysis of predicted off-target sites instead of unbiased genome-wide analysis. CRISPR-Cas-edited plants showed lower off-target mutation frequencies than conventionally bred plants. This Review can aid discussions on the relevance of evaluating off-target modifications for risk assessment of CRISPR-Cas-edited plants.

Food safety, food security and genetically modified organisms in Africa: a current perspective

Moving forward from 2020, Africa faces an eminent challenge of food safety and security in the coming years. The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations (UN) estimates that 20% of Africa's population of 1.2 billion people face the highest level of undernourishment in the world, likely to worsen due to COVID-19 pandemic that has brought the entire world to its knees. Factors such as insecurity and conflict, poverty, climate change and population growth have been identified as critical contributors to the food security challenges on the continent. Biotechnological research on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) provides a range of opportunities (such as increased crop yields, resistance to pests and diseases, enhanced nutrient composition and food quality) in addressing the hunger, malnutrition and food security issues on the continent. However, the acceptance and adoption of GMOs on the continent has been remarkably slow, perhaps due to contrasting views about the benefits and safety concerns associated with them. With the reality of food insecurity and the booming population in Africa, there is an eminent need for a more pragmatic position to this debate. The present review presents an overview of the current situation of food safety and security and attempts to reconcile major viewpoints on GMOs research considering the current food safety and security crisis in the African continent.

Application of the Safe-By-Design Concept in Crop Breeding Innovation

The present paper proposes the application of the safe-by-design concept to crop breeding innovation with the aim to accommodate safety considerations for new agricultural food and feed products. Safe-by-design can be implemented in all stages of the innovation cycle of agricultural products, from the early stages of research and development towards the post-market stage. Our proposed application of safe-by-design can be part of “responsible research and innovation” concepts, because they share features such as risk prevention strategies and a participatory approach. Early awareness of potential safety issues can guide the development of agricultural products towards safe options, both at the process and product level, and thus may help to reduce extensive pre-market assessment studies that might otherwise be needed further downstream for regulatory product approval. Here, it is discussed how the proposed safe-by-design approach can be introduced into the development of safe food crops using emerging technologies, such as gene editing and synthetic biology, and how this may help to safeguard the safety of our food and feed supply in the light of the ongoing global innovations in agricultural crop breeding.