In times of the pandemic it was called to ban patents that are related to Covid-19 vaccines, medicaments, and diagnostics and the European Parliament was in favour of it. Now there is a call from the European Parliament to ban all patents on new genomics techniques (NTG) and plants. Quo vadis?
A long-awaited draft regulation from the EU Commission’s DG Sante to deregulate the authorisation, risk assessment and labelling of a whole range of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been published today by the College of the Commission. New Genomic Techniques (NGT) are introduced as an umbrella term for certain genetic engineering techniques that aim to modify DNA more precisely than "old" methods by targeting changes to pre-defined loci in the genome. The proposal creates two distinct pathways for NGT plants to be placed on the market. "Category 1 NGTs" are considered equivalent to conventionally bred plants and no longer require prior case-by-case risk assessment.
From bacteria to cellulose fibers and lab grown paper. A greek project paves the way to save trees.