What are New Genomic Techniques?

For thousands of years, people have selected, domesticated and crossbred plants and animals to make food best suited to our needs. Modern technology, like genetic modification and new genomic techniques, goes even further. But what exactly are new genomic techniques, and are they safe?

What does “new genomic techniques” mean?

New genomic techniques (NGTs) - also known as precision breeding - are breeding techniques that alter the genetic material of plants, animals or microorganisms. 

NGTs can add, remove or rearrange sections of DNA to make changes to a living thing. This includes adding new traits or enhancing or diminishing existing characteristics. For example, we can use New Genomic Techniques to improve the nutritional content of food, increase resistance to diseases in farm animals, or make crops more resilient to weeds, pests, or extreme weather.¹

NGTs are different from GMOs. NGTs mostly edit an organism’s existing genes, while GMOs move genes from one species to another.

How do NGTs change our food? 

NGT is an umbrella term for two methods of altering organisms: gene editing and gene transfer.²

Gene editing involves inserting, deleting or replacing genes and relies mainly on the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) tool. 

Gene transfer involves inserting new genes into the DNA and can use cisgenesis or intragenesis. The techniques make changes in the organism that can be big or small.²

The CRISPR tool has been adapted from natural defense mechanisms used by bacteria to fight viruses. Scientists use the Cas9 enzyme, which uses a Ribonucleic acid (RNA), a molecule found in almost all living organisms that carries out many functions in the cell, as a guide to cut DNA in a targeted location. A piece of the DNA close to the cut can be removed, a new portion of DNA can be inserted or the old DNA can be substituted for a new piece of DNA.

What’s the difference between Cisgenesis and Intragenesis?

Cisgenesis is when an organism’s DNA is modified by adding DNA from a donor that belongs to the same species or a closely related one.³ This technique is the closest to natural breeding because it involves transplanting a whole gene from one organism to another.

Intragenesis has the same basic definition as cisgenesis - it is when an organism’s DNA is modified by adding DNA from a donor that belongs to the same species, or a closely related one.⁴ However, it is different from cisgenesis because it isolates part of a gene and transplants that, rather than the whole gene, from one organism to another. Through this, intragenesis creates new genes.

Can NGTs occur naturally?

Yes - some organisms produced using NGTs could occur naturally through conventional breeding.⁵ For example, plants can naturally reproduce, creating the same result as crops altered using mutagenesis. Similarly, cisgenesis can occur naturally when two organisms of the same species breed and share their DNA.⁶ For example, when a crop that is naturally resistant to a disease breeds with a crop that is not naturally resistant to that disease, the offspring may receive the resistant gene.

Are NGTs the same as genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

No - genetic modification involves editing organisms by always transplanting foreign genetic material (i.e. genes from another organism) that codes for desirable traits from one species to another. By comparison, NGTs do not involve inserting foreign genetic material every time.⁷

It’s important to note that NGTs are also different from EGTs - established genomic techniques. EGTs are techniques that were developed before 2001. They cause random changes in the organism’s DNA. By comparison, NGTs make directed changes to the organism’s DNA.^1,2

Are NGTs safe for human consumption?

The European Food Safety Authority assessed the safety of NGTs in 2021 and found no new hazards specifically linked to NGTs compared with conventional in plants.⁸ However, there are currently no crops or animals resulting exclusively from NGTs authorised for sale as food or animal feed in the EU.¹ This is mostly because NGTs have historically been regulated under strict GMO legislation, which has made it difficult to bring NGT foods to market. 

In other parts of the world, the rules around NGTs are less strict, and more than 500 NGT products are currently being developed worldwide.⁹ In 2021, a Japanese company was the first to bring an NGT food product to market - a tomato - produced using the gene-editing CRISPR tool. The tomato was altered to increase the content of gamma-aminobutyric acid, which is thought to help lower blood pressure. The company followed up later in 2021 with red sea bream and tiger puffer fish that had been altered to grow bigger than they normally would.¹⁰

Sanatech Seed, a Japanese biotechnology company, began selling the first CRISPR-Cas9 gene edited tomato seedlings in 2021. Image via Sanatech Seed. 

Are NGT foods legal in Europe? 

NGTs are currently regulated under GMO rules that were adopted in 1999 when NGTs did not exist. However, in July 2023, the European Commission proposed updating the legislation with consideration for the new techniques. The proposed changes would see NGTs no longer regulated under the same laws as GMOs. In practice, this means  GMO regulations would not apply to NGT crops that could occur naturally or through conventional breeding. All other NGT crops would remain subject to GMO regulations.⁵

In February 2024, the European Parliament voted to accept the proposed changes, with an additional ban on all patents for NGT plants.⁹ This means that foods developed with NGTs can’t be treated as products by the companies that created them. This might protect farmers from confusing legal battles, but it could also discourage innovation and investment in the space.

Nikoletta Papadopoulou, scientific officer in EFSA’s Nutrition and Food Innovation Unit, told FoodUnfolded: "We concluded that the European Commission’s proposal to consider category 1 NGT plants as equivalent to conventionally bred plants is scientifically justified. Our conclusion is based on the similarity of genetic modifications and of potential risks between category 1 NGT plants and conventionally bred plants.” In other words, the organisation responsible for food safety in Europe agrees that it’s reasonable for NGT plants that could have occurred naturally to not be regulated in the same way as GMOs, which couldn’t occur naturally. 

However, in the European Council, agricultural ministers haven’t been able to agree on how to move forward with this new legislation, in particular the patent ban.⁹ At the time of writing, the Council remains in a deadlock - so it’s still unclear when NGT foods might come to a supermarket near you.