The President's Prize

Elena García-Pérez is a Ph.D. Student at IBMCP (CSIC-UPV, Spain).  She studied Biotechnology at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, where she did her BSc thesis in the group ‘Association of symbiotic bacteria with plants’ at CBGP (Spain) led by Pr. Jose Manuel Palacios. Then, she did her MSc in Plant Biotechnology at Wageningen University (WUR, The Netherlands), where she specialized in plants for human and animal health. At WUR, she worked as a teaching assistant and did her master's thesis on developing plant-based anthelmintic vaccines supervised by Dr. Ruud Wilbers at the Nematology Department. Later, she moved as a student intern to the company LenioBio GmbH (Germany), where she worked in cell-free protein synthesis. During her Ph.D. at IBMCP in the Plant Genomics and Biotechnology group led by Dr. Diego Orzaez, Elena worked on developing a copper switch for inducing CRISPR/Cas9-based transcriptional activation of genes in Nicotiana benthamiana. She did a research stay at the University of Tübingen (Germany) in the group of Dr. Rosa Lozano-Durán, where she gained insights into geminivirus-plant interactions. Currently, she is developing a copper-induced geminiviral genetic circuit to produce recombinant proteins in plants.

Commentary

The field of Plant Molecular Farming (PMF) was rocked by the announcement in February, that the Canadian biotechnology company Medicago Inc. had closed. The International Society of Plant Molecular Farming responds to this news in a commentary published today in the journal nature biotechnology.

We argue that the advances Medicago made over the last 5 years did much to de-risk PMF and bring the technology into the mainstream. Their demise does not reflect a failure of science or PMF technology, but was primarily a business decision based on market environment. 

The scientific, economic and social justifications for further investment in PMF remain compelling, and many other companies continue in the PMF arena, with commercially successful products and full pipeline.

On May 3^rd, 2023, the Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food announced updated guidance for seed regulations that will provide clear direction for plant breeders so that Canadian farmers can access new seed varieties, enhance sustainable food production and be more resilient in the face of today's challenges.



The Government of Canada recognizes that new plant breeding innovations, including gene-editing, allow new plant varieties to be developed more efficiently than conventional breeding. This can benefit farmers and consumers by providing them with access to plants and seeds that are both safe for humans, animals, and the environment. These varieties can also be more resistant to extreme temperature, precipitation, and insects, helping us adapt to climate change, feed a growing population and keep food costs down for consumers.

"The Government of Canada recognizes that new plant breeding innovations allow new varieties to be developed more efficiently than conventional breeding."

Following the UK’s departure from the EU [Brexit], England has recently passed a new Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act.  The Act, which came into force on Thursday 23^rd March 2023, covers precision-bred plants and animals developed through techniques such as gene editing, and cisgenics, where the end product could have been achieved through natural or traditional breeding approaches.

This is different to genetic modification (GM), which produces genetic changes that could not have occurred through traditional breeding or occur naturally (i.e. such as transgenics). Stricter regulations will remain in place for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The news has been welcomed by researchers, breeders and industries across the UK as it signals a major step in unlocking growth and innovation in these new technologies, reinforcing food security in the face of climate change and ensuring England becomes a world-leader in agri-food innovation.

The new rules also make it far easier for researchers to take gene edit crops (without T-DNA) to field trials, using a simple online notification system and removing the burden of lengthy and costly GM licence application - as was the case under the EU 2001/18 GMO directive. Already several CRISPR gene edited field trials have been able to go ahead since the changes came in (which was last year for field trials for research purposes).

"The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 removes precision bred organisms from the legal definition of genetically modified organisms"