Jennifer Hubert, Executive Director of Biotechnology at Crop Life Canada, discusses Canada's unique regulatory approach to gene editing, focusing on risk assessment of final products. The podcast explores the challenges and opportunities of gene editing technology, acceptance, and regulations in Canada, emphasizing the need for updated policies based on current scientific knowledge and global biotechnology frameworks.
Canada focuses on final product characteristics, not process in regulating plant genetic modifications.
Stricter regulations in Canada hinder technology access but may facilitate entry for small enterprises with gene editing advancements.
Deep dives
The Product-Based Approach to Regulation in Canada
Canada adopts a product-based approach to regulate plant genetic modifications, focusing on the final plant product's characteristics rather than the process used to create it. This approach captures products of conventional breeding as well, aiming for clarity in regulatory frameworks for both gene editing and conventional plant breeding. Recent revisions and scientific guidance have clarified regulations, emphasizing endpoints like foreign DNA presence for assessments.
Impact on Speed and Access to Technology
The regulatory framework in Canada has influenced the speed of bringing novel traits to market, with current estimates showing a cost of $115 million and a 16.5-year timeline for product commercialization. These strict regulations have limited technology access to large companies and crops, but with gene editing, novel traits developed through conventional breeding may undergo a less extensive risk assessment, facilitating entry for small enterprises and public researchers.
Global Impact and Regulatory Acceptance
Changes in gene editing regulations, such as those seen in the EU, can influence policy shifts in countries like Canada. Improved regulatory frameworks and public acceptance of gene editing technologies could impact major export crops like corn, soybean, canola, and wheat. Enhanced sustainability messaging and science-based policies signal a positive trend towards a more inclusive and risk-proportionate regulatory environment for biotechnologies.
Canada has a unique approach to plant genetic improvement that follows the product, not the process. In other words, if there is potential risk from any genetic manipulation technique, from polyploidization to transgenic to gene edits, Canadian regulators assess the relative risk in the final product. But what does the regulatory climate look like going forward as gene editing becomes more routine? Today's podcast is a conversation with Jennifer Hubert, Executive Director of Biotechnology at Crop Life Canada.
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