TSince the beginning of agriculture, all the plants we eat are different from those found in the wild. For example, they have larger, sweeter fruits, more seeds, are non-toxic and stick to the ear. These differences result from various genetic accidents in their genomes: mutations, random insertion of strict sensu, but also mobile genetic elements (as in blood oranges), and even duplications in chromosome number (as in wheat).
For centuries, humans have selected advantageous plants with spontaneous mutations, first in nature and then in the artificial environment of the field. We then crossed varieties from distant origins and even different species (such as apricot and almond or grapefruit and tangerine); They would probably never have descendants without human help.
For more than half a century, physical (radiation) or chemical mutagenic agents have been used to obtain agriculturally interesting variations. So we created thousands of varieties, including the American pomelo, the Sudanese banana or the French apple.
These different methods (crossover and mutagenesis) result in several thousand to several million mutations, and plant genomes contain from several hundred million for tomato to several billion DNA bases for maize. Therefore, all plants grown have been genetically modified and have always been considered to pose no health or environmental risks.
Positive developments in genome editing techniques
The term “GMO” (genetically modified Organism) It is a regulatory designation reserved for plants in which DNA foreign to the species has been introduced to enable them, for example, to produce their own organic pesticides (from bacteria). Bacillus thuringiensis) or to resist viruses (payas in the Hawaiian Islands). These plants are extremely heavily regulated in Europe depending on their method of production (transgenesis), making their cultivation (but not their import) nearly impossible.
Today, thanks to genome editing techniques (summarized by the acronym CrispR/Cas9), we know how to introduce a handful of variations into defined positions in the genome. We always do the same thing, inserting and selecting mutations, but instead of sorting through large numbers of random, spontaneous or triggered mutations, quickly and selectively based on scientific knowledge generated over the last decade.
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