Genetically engineered apples (right) resist browning.OKANAGAN SPECIALTY FRUITSThirty years ago, scientists could have only dreamed about techniques to manipulate the genome that researchers have at their disposal these days. It should come as no surprise, then, that regulations governing genetically engineered (GE) crops—devised during the Reagan administration—don’t reflect these newer methods.
The result is that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which gives authorization to test crops in the field or move them across state lines for sale, has in recent years found itself unable to regulate an increasing number of GE crops. This year alone, eight GE plants—everything from glowing Arabidopsis to denser loblolly pine to higher-yield maize—fell outside the purview of APHIS’s authority.
“Do we want those things to go out unregulated?” asked Alan McHughen of the University of California, Riverside, who has worked to develop both biotech crops and regulatory policy. “In some cases, the answer would be no.”
Criticism of how GMOs make it onto the market comes from both sides—those who say regulations are ...
