Some people have trouble digesting flour-based foods or show allergic reactions. It is because of the gluten protein. Now, in Europe, a path has opened to choose flour without gluten. Europe has decided to lift regulations on gene-edited organisms (GEOs) that prevent gluten from forming, unlike existing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The European Parliament on the 17th (local time) gave final approval by vote in a plenary session to a New Genomic Techniques (NGT) bill to lift regulations on GEOs. NGT is the European term for precision breeding or gene editing. The core of the bill that passed is to treat NGT-1 crops, which have variations at levels that can occur naturally among crops produced with gene-editing technologies, similarly to conventionally bred varieties. GMOs are classified as NGT-2 and will continue to be regulated.
◇Accepted in the same way as conventional breeding
The European Parliament's decision reflects the logic long argued by the scientific community. GEOs repair genes within the same species and are, in principle, no different from conventional breeding. Conventional breeding produces crops with desired traits by crossbreeding plants of the same species over generations and time. Scientists have argued that gene editing merely shortens conventional breeding, which takes years, to a matter of months.
GMOs differ from GEOs in that they insert genes from other species. A representative example is herbicide-tolerant GMO corn sold in most countries, including Korea, which has a soil microorganism gene inserted. GMOs have been consumed worldwide without any problems for the past 30 years, but because their principle differs from conventional breeding, they are regulated separately.
The United States, Japan and the United Kingdom eased regulations on GEOs ahead of Europe. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture excluded a gene-edited mushroom that prevents browning from GMO regulations. In 2021, Japan's Sanatech Seed began selling a tomato with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content increased up to fivefold through gene editing. GABA, a neurotransmitter, helps lower blood pressure and relieve stress. In March 2023, the United Kingdom changed its law to allow the development and sale of GEO foods. Europe eased regulations only for crops, while the United Kingdom included livestock.
It took more than 10 years for gene-editing technology to be approved in Europe. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) began reviewing gene-editing technologies as early as 2012 and in 2024 released an analysis concluding that GEOs are not harmful to humans. The European Commission (EC) formally submitted a bill to ease regulations on GEOs and NGT crops on July 5, 2023. The bill that passed will take effect 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (EU) and, after a two-year grace period, will apply starting in 2028.
◇Responding to climate change, boosting agricultural competitiveness
Scientists and seed corporations expect the law to accelerate the introduction of crops with improved disease resistance, heat tolerance and nutrition. The network of plant research institutions that has supported the legal revision, "European Sustainable Agriculture through Genome Editing," said it was "a groundbreaking decision for European science, innovation and sustainable agriculture."
Gene editing in particular is being assessed as a tool that can help prevent agricultural damage from climate change, because it can enable the development of drought-resistant wheat and rice. According to Bloomberg, European agriculture suffers more than $32 billion (about 49 trillion won) in losses each year due to extreme weather such as droughts and floods caused by warming. The European agricultural groups Farm Europe and Eat Europe said, "European farmers will finally have the urgently needed tools to strengthen the resilience, competitiveness and sustainability of the agricultural institutional sector."
The bill also recognizes patents for GEOs, a boon for major seed corporations such as Corteva and Bayer. Matthias Berninger, Bayer's head of public policy, said in an interview after the vote, "For the past 30 years there have been many discords and regulatory differences between the United States and Europe," adding, "This vote creates, for the first time, a moment for regulatory convergence in agricultural biotechnology."
Some worry that GEOs, like GMOs, will become a tool for a few multinational seed companies to dominate the market, but the seed industry believes they will also energize emerging gene-editing corporations. Because GMO regulations are so stringent, small and midsize seed companies struggle to clear the hurdles to commercialization, whereas GEOs require far less development expense and time, making them suitable for small and midsize companies.
◇Bills introduced at home as well, but adrift
The "Gene Editing Bioindustry Development Council," a council of domestic gene-editing corporations, also welcomed the European Parliament's passage of the NGT bill. Yoo Jong-sang, CEO of ToolGen, which chairs the council, said, "The EU's final approval is a symbolic event showing that the global agricultural regulatory paradigm is shifting to science-centered," adding, "Europe chose innovation, and now it is Korea's turn."
In Korea as well, in September 2024, Choi Su-jin, a People Power Party lawmaker, introduced a partial amendment to the Act on Transboundary Movements of Living Modified Organisms (LMO Act amendment) to ease GEO regulations. Similar to the European NGT bill, it contains provisions to "distinguish GEOs from GMOs, and fully exempt GEOs at levels obtainable through natural mutations or traditional crossbreeding from GMO regulations," but it has been pending for nearly two years. A gene-edited tomato fortified with vitamin D has been developed domestically but, unlike in Japan, has not been marketed.
References
European Parliament (2026), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20260611IPR45215/new-genomic-techniques-for-plants-to-boost-innovation-in-sustainable-agriculture