Dive Brief:
- Scientists have recently made advances in "editing" the genome -- removing undesirable traits in food, but not introducing new genes as is done when foods are genetically modified. "Edited" food might be more acceptable than GMO food to consumers, according to researchers.
- Examples of foods produced with gene editing would be apples that don't brown when cut, or bananas with increased levels of vitamin A, a life-saving development that scientists are already pursing with GMO techniques.
- The first uses of gene editing would be in fruit, because science already knows so much about fruit genomes.
Dive Insight:
Perhaps the researchers are right that genetically edited organisms (GEOs) would be less frightening to consumers than genetically modified organisms (GMOs). And perhaps regulators in Europe and elsewhere who shun GMOs would welcome GEOs.
But biotechnology is a crazily complicated field, and getting consumers to a) understand it, and b) accept it, isn't easy. The key will likely be marketing, as it often is in food. Perhaps "edited" food is a little more marketable than "modified."