The EU says yes to new biotechnologies to produce more proteins but no to “synthetic” food
For the EU it is necessary to increase protein production but "laboratory proteins" are not the solution. Instead we are talking about Assisted Evolution Techniques (Tea), which the Italian Parliament paved the way for but for the EU they are among GMOs. Facts and comments
Yes to greater production of protein crops in Europe, no to “laboratory proteins”. This is in summary the opinion of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament, which yesterday rejected the part of the resolution on protein crops which mentioned "innovative cell-based products", the so-called "synthetic" food.
An opinion that brought together MEPs from all political forces, from the Democratic Party to the 5 Star Movement, up to – obviously – the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Francesco Lollobrigida of Fratelli d'Italia.
THE EU REJECTS “SYNTHETIC” FOOD
The resolution discussed yesterday by the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament aims for greater production of protein crops in Europe to respond – more independently – to global needs. In fact, only 29% of the high-protein raw materials necessary for animal feed come from the EU, which makes the Union heavily dependent on imports from third countries.
The paragraph rejected by the commission concerned "laboratory proteins", which would have effectively led to the production of cultured or "synthetic" meat.
NO TO LABORATORY PROTEINS YES TO BIOTECHNOLOGIES IN AGRICULTURE
The PD MEP and member of Comagri Paolo De Castro, who together with Daniela Rondinelli (M5s) and other deputies of the Group of Socialists and Democrats, presented amendments that led to the rejection of the "laboratory food", however underlined "the importance of new sustainable biotechnologies in the global challenge for agriculture capable of producing more, using fewer inputs".
“We have been repeating it for months, and now we have also put it in black and white in a European Parliament report: synthetic meat, with its impacts from an environmental, social, economic and ethical point of view, cannot represent a solution to the structural deficit of proteins faced by Europe. On the contrary – states De Castro -, science offers us much more sustainable solutions, starting from new technologies for the assisted evolution of plants, which can lead to a short-term increase in European production of plant proteins, thanks to more productive and more resistant."
“The battle against synthetic food and in favor of a science that, as with TEAs [Assisted Evolution Techniques, ed. ], supports and strengthens the biological cycles necessary for food production, continues. And as Mediterranean countries – concludes De Castro – we will have to be able to create a granite block to defend the food-nature bond, which risks being replaced due to visions opposite to ours, especially on the part of Northern European countries ”.
However, the battle is not over yet. The draft resolution will in fact have to be put to the vote in plenary, probably in the session of 16-19 October.
BIPARTISAN SATISFACTION
And Minister Lollobrigida, who had already launched the first ban on synthetic meat in the world last May, could only be satisfied: "We have always been at the side of our farmers, also with support initiatives to increase crops, but this does not it must happen with the possibility of producing food in the laboratory".
“I hope that these attempts, like the one averted today, will not be repeated – said the minister -. I am convinced that by now, even in Europe, the message has spread that food produced in vitro could not only hide negative consequences for the health of citizens, but would destroy entire supply chains without any benefit for the environment".
The Northern League undersecretary Luigi D'Eramo echoes this: “Our country was the first to raise strong doubts on the matter, based on the precautionary principle, the protection of public health comes first. Common sense is also prevailing in Europe. We will continue to be alongside our farmers and breeders who, with their daily work and their sacrifices, are personally involved in safeguarding the environment”.
WHAT ARE ASSISTED EVOLUTION TECHNIQUES (TEA)
But what are the Assisted Evolution Techniques (Tea) that De Castro also talks about? As observed by the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agrarian Economy (Crea), the global need for food will be increasingly greater and crops will have to be not only more sustainable but also more resistant to cope with droughts and floods due to climate change. For all these reasons, new technologies play a fundamental role.
Among these there are Teas which, as Luigi Cattivilli, director of the Crea Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Center explained to Ansa , are "two techniques used in the genetic improvement of plants, genome editing and cisgenesis".
BUT ARE TEAS LIKE GMOs?
Teas might bring to mind GMOs, genetically modified organisms, but Cattivilli clarified that "while GMOs involve the insertion into the original genome of gene sequences coming from other species (plants, animals or bacteria), that is, introducing foreign DNA and by creating transgenic organisms, Teas allow the modification of the genome, but without the insertion of "foreign" genes, i.e. coming from other species".
“The mutations induced through editing – he continues – are in all respects equivalent to the natural mutations that constitute the biological basis of biodiversity”.
A cisgenic plant, however, states Cattivilli, "is a plant in whose genome a gene deriving from another interfertile plant, often of the same species, has been inserted". This technique is preferred because "it allows you to save time […] but above all to keep the entire genome of the recipient variety unchanged".
For Crea, genome editing and cisgenesis are among the tools that will allow us to introduce the necessary characteristics for the agricultural plants of tomorrow and the most effective alternative to pesticides.
ITALIAN REGULATIONS VS EUROPEAN REGULATIONS
However, the Italian and European legislation on Tea is not the same. The Italian Parliament, in fact, recalled Cattivilli, recently approved a rule that "unblocks field testing of plants obtained with Tea (not that of GMOs), until 31 December 2024, with a simplified procedure for traits that promote resistance to drought and disease."
While for European legislation, "experimentation in the field of Tea is regulated by Directive 2001/18 on GMOs", which provides exemptions, for example, for "organisms obtained through mutagenesis", but not for Tea. A statement also reiterated by a ruling of the European Court of Justice in 2017.
“But, now – states Cattivilli -, the scientific world believes that genome editing has all the characteristics of mutagenesis as the edited plants do not contain foreign DNA unlike GMOs. And the fact that they are not in the list of techniques excluded from the application of the legislation on GMOs is due to a question of timing, given that – experts say – they were discovered 10 years after Directive 2001/18”.
Parliament will therefore be able to review the law. Meanwhile, Cattivilli finally recalled, in the world , several countries, such as the United States, Canada, South America, Japan and the United Kingdom, have already liberalized the use of Tea in the field.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/lue-dice-si-alle-nuove-biotecnologie-per-produrre-piu-proteine-ma-no-al-cibo-sintetico/ on Thu, 21 Sep 2023 09:34:33 +0000.