The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published a paper on the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill, which reports the results of its consumer research on gene editing and other GMO technologies claimed as "precision breeding". Consumers thought benefits outweighed risks if the technology was properly regulated, but they "were very clear in their desire for thorough safety testing of all new precision bred products. They wanted to know that risk assessments would have high standards and require strong evidence and that the FSA’s work to regulate precision bred foods would be adequately funded so that consumers can trust that the processes are followed thoroughly." They also wanted labelling (they don't seem to have been given the choice to demand a "GM" label but were restricted to demanding a "precision bred" label): "Workshop participants felt very strongly that precision bred products should be labelled as precision bred." Nearly four in five (77%) said it would be important when buying a food item to know if it had been "precision bred", and nearly half (45%) said it would be "very" important. GMWatch

 

 

AquaBounty is delaying the timeline for the completion of construction at its 10,000 tons GM salmon farm in Pioneer, Ohio, back to 2025. The site was expected to be up and running by late 2023, with salmon ready for market in 2025. But inflation and the labour shortage continue to delay the progress of the land-based salmon facility. IntraFish (paywalled)

 

 

A biodiversity group says Canada needs to keep genetically engineered animals out of the wild, after the federal government recently rejected several attempts to strengthen its existing laws. Nature Canada senior adviser Mark Butler said we need to prevent wild animals from being exposed to engineered cousins that could breed with them, prey on them or compete with them for food.“Now is the time to act,” he said. This week, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault could decide whether to approve an application for a genetically modified fruit fly. The EntoEngine, a creation of the firm Future Fields, is a fruit fly designed to be a natural bioreactor and to grow cell proteins that can be used to make vaccines, medicines or lab-grown meat products. [GMW: For more on the EntoEngine, see this.] The Globe and Mail

 

 

A historic financial explosion happened in California’s Silicon Valley last week. Silicon Valley Bank, America’s 16th largest bank, collapsed into federal government receivership following a run on the bank. For anyone ‘watching tech’, this collapse is a spectacular moment, writes Jim Thomas. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) boasted that almost half of all US venture-backed technology and life science companies banked with them (holding a total of $342 billion in client funds and $74 billion in total loans). Given SVB’s penchant for risky bets, it's likely that some of the corporate bodies under the rubble may turn out to be from the most grotesquely over-hyped of the foodtech sectors: Alt-proteins. That is the silicon valley manufactured industry where biotech and big data companies try to promote highly engineered and processed fake meats under shaky ‘green’ claims. Indeed, the two biggest names in alt-protein - Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat - both turn out to be connected with Silicon Valley Bank. Scan the Horizon

 

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