Acceptance of disease-resistant GM rootstocks for non-GM fruit
2016
Mitter, N. | Gleeson, M.
The commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) fruit trees is rare, limited to GM poplar with insect resistance grown in China and GM papaya with virus resistance grown in the USA and China. New biotechnological approaches like trans-grafting, which involves grafting a non-GM scion on a GM rootstock, are raising questions about the status of fruit obtained from such a chimeric plant. Whether non-modified upper stems grafted on GM rootstocks and their products must be subject to the GMO legislation is principally a legal and political question in addition to the scientific proof for absence of transgene in the scion. In the case of GM rootstock grafting, especially if we are targeting a root pathogen using RNA interference technology without any effect on endogenous genes or attempt to alter any traits in the scion, the fruit will not contain any novel genetic material and therefore should not be subject to GM labelling. We need to find out if the distinction between a product carrying genetic modification and a product without any modification but resulting from the use of GM techniques is important to the consumer. The dividing line between what is a GMO and what is not is becoming increasingly blurred. The development of new techniques demands greater clarity and perhaps new interpretations of the current legislation and regulations regarding GMOs.
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