Europe's Uncertainty Regarding Genetically Modified Products

A calf whose meat is highly resistant to oven heat, a mushroom that does not turn brown, pigs that do not get sick... These are all ideas that can be achieved through genetic modification. This new technology has caused a massive revolution in the world of medical biology, a revolution that has now spread from laboratories to farms. But where is the boundary of these genetic modifications, and who is responsible for defining these red lines? According to Reuters, the increasing development of genetic engineering technology has become a dilemma for European politicians. After decades of fighting against genetically modified foods, the possibility of DNA manipulation is now available to farmers and ranchers. In a laboratory 150 kilometers northeast of London, Wendy Harwood is experimenting on the DNA of barley particles to produce a higher quality and more abundant crop. John Innes, one of the scientists at this center, says, 'We were never able to create such changes through genetic modification. This (genetic engineering) gives you exactly what you want and removes what you do not want (from the product).' In another location in southern England, scientists are breeding pigs that are immune to a dangerous and deadly disease. Reuters states that farmers and ranchers around the world have teamed up with scientists to win the race for genetic changes. The use of 'molecular scissors' technology allows scientists to manipulate the genes of any living organism faster than ever in history. Plant products—which unlike animals and humans do not require going through complex approval processes and clinical trial periods—are among the first targets for scientists to test these changes. However, producing these products does not mean they will easily gain entry into the European market. The European Union has yet to make a decision on how to regulate these products. This decision was supposed to be made by the end of 2015, determining whether genetically modified DNA products would be subject to legal restrictions or not. The decision was postponed to early spring 2016, and now that time has passed, it is unclear when the fate of farmers and the European market for these products will be determined. Both sides of this issue are concerned about this delay. The Green Peace group demands that these types of productions also be subject to the laws and regulations of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to completely ban their use in Europe. On the other hand, users of this technology argue that their type of genetic modification is different from GMOs because they do not add the DNA of other products to one product; instead, they only 'cut' and manipulate the genes within a plant or animal. Proponents of this technology believe that their work is similar to 'planned breeding' in animals and plants, which is legal in Europe and is done to improve the breed of animals or plants.