The European Parliament has voted in favour of more relaxed regulation for the use of New Genomic Techniques, (NGTs), on plants. A decision that has ignited fiery debates. But what exactly are NGTs?
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00:00 The European Parliament has voted in favor of more relaxed regulation for the use of
00:08 new genomic techniques known as NGTs on plants.
00:13 Some experts argue that our food system could become more sustainable with their help, since
00:20 plants may become more resilient to climate change and resistant to pests.
00:26 But what exactly are these techniques?
00:28 "The new technologies allow us to target more precisely, in a surgical way, like a
00:33 scissor, the genes in the genome in a very precise way without touching all the other
00:39 parts of the genome and introduce the function or improve the function as we want.
00:43 So there is a huge time saving and it is even more important that it is more precise and
00:51 we will target only the part that interests us to improve."
00:54 Professor Bendaman believes that NGTs could play a crucial role in addressing the impact
01:01 of climate change on agriculture.
01:04 He hopes they prevent crop losses caused by early flowering, something that is happening
01:10 more and more frequently.
01:12 Across Europe, this method is currently regulated in a similar way to genetically modified organisms,
01:19 GMOs.
01:20 But how alike are the two techniques?
01:24 "These technologies are totally different from transgenesis, which we used before, since
01:30 in transgenesis we introduce a new gene.
01:33 Here we only modify a gene that is already present."
01:36 However, some farmers and former farmers, such as Christian Foyere, view these NGT-modified
01:44 plants as potentially harmful to agriculture.
01:48 "NGT are part of our future claims and the claims of the peasant confederation.
01:54 It is a big concern if it happens because we are going to the exploitation of the living
01:59 and with all the drift that can be there.
02:01 We will be on an even more productive, capitalist agriculture."
02:06 In Europe, over the last 50 years, there has been a 30% decline in harvests, leading some
02:15 to push for a change in the way agriculture is managed.
02:19 However, despite the NGT method being used across the world, the European Food Safety
02:25 Authority has warned of potential safety concerns regarding its application.
02:31 [ENGINE REVVING]