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The Society for Plant Biotechnology organises a workshop on current topics in plant biotechnology every two years. The time has come again in 2023, in Göttingen on 25 September 2023 (in the run-up to the Plant Protection Conference). All members and interested parties are cordially invited. Further information can be found in the 1st circular.

The following topics will be in the focus:

1. Genome editing
2. Transformation and regeneration systems
3. Sequence analysis and development of molecular markers
4. small RNAs and epigenetic regulation
5. biotechnological plant protection

Important! The first ten PhD students who register with a contribution (preferably a lecture) will receive a travel allowance of 100 €.

This week, the EU Commission published the results of the second consultation on the regulation of plants derived from new genomic techniques. The consultation was part of the Commission's initiative to establish new legislation for plants produced by targeted mutagenesis.

Here it provides a general overview of the results of the consultation, a breakdown of country participation, stakeholder feedback and industry feedback. (Ares (2022) 6404775). It also lists the contributions from the feedback and the 141 documents attached to the contributions.

Since August 2009 there has been a "Ohne Gentechnik" label in Germany. Many consumers assume that food bearing this label has not come into contact with genetic engineering. However, this is not the case and thus suggests a situation that does not exist. The claim "Ohne Gentechnik" may be used if the food and the food ingredients used are not genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and have not been produced from GMOs. In the food control practice of the Laender, however, a tolerance threshold of 1 gram per kilogram of genetically modified components related to the food or food ingredient is accepted, in addition to the detection limit in the analysis. Furthermore, for foods of animal origin that are to be labelled "Ohne Gentechnik" (without genetic engineering), there is no ban on feeding genetically modified feed to the respective animals, but only a certain period of time before the respective food is produced during which no genetically modified feed may be fed.

The petition demands that the labelling of foodstuffs with the label "without genetic engineering" (§ 3a para. 1 sentence 2 EGGenTDurchfG) be supplemented with the clear indication that this indication does not guarantee that the goods do not actually contain any genetically influenced or genetically produced components.

In preparation for the 15th Congress of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology, which will take place in Daejeon/South Korea from 6-11 August 2023, a pre-webinar workshop will be held on Tuesday 9 August 2022. In addition to the first glimpses of the event, Holger Puchta, Ji Hoon Ahn and Allen Gossens will give presentations on their recent work. More information is available at the following link. 

The EU-SAGE database represents state-of-the-art scientific evidence of worldwide genome editing applications in crops for agricultural production. It contains currently more than 500 entries, and the database will be frequently updated with the latest scientific studies. More details under News.

The European Commission is organizing a high-level event to provide a forum for a transparent and constructive debate on how the EU could develop a regulatory framework on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques (targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis) that combines high levels of safety while reaping the benefits of innovation. Three panels will discuss the contribution of new genomic techniques to sustainability, risk assessment as well as traceability/labelling of products resulting from new genomic techniques.

Link for program and registration.

In a recent paper published in Frontiers in Plant Science, the regulatory basis for an application of dsRNA-based plant protection products in the EU is presented in comparison with the USA.

Further details can be found under News.

This report presents a review of market applications of new genomic techniques (NGTs). Further details can be found under News.

The Society for Plant Biotechnology and the Thünen Institute is organising an online workshop on molecular breeding on 06/07 September 2021. Further details can be found under News.

If you or your colleagues are interested and would like to contribute to the workshop actively, please register a contribution (talk or poster) by 20 June 2021 via the following link.

The WGG (Wissenschaftlerkreis Grüne Gentechnik e.V, represented by Prof. Klaus Jany) together with the AFBV (Association Française des Biotechnologies Végétales) has published a position paper on the regulation of genome-edited plants in the European Scientist. The Society for Plant Biotechnology supports this proposal.

Detailed informations you will find in the NEWS section.

Detailed informations you will find in the NEWS section.