USA: CRISPR-Cas technique without labelling

As TestBioTec, the German organisation critical of genetic engineering, has reported, mushrooms in the USA have been manipulated using new genetic engineering techniques (CRISPR-Cas) so that they turn brown more slowly where they have been sliced. This means they can be stored for a longer time.

To achieve this outcome, the function of genes was blocked or modified in such a way that natural processes were slowed down. Without further investigation the US authorities have approved the marketing of these mushrooms. Consequently, they can be sold like conventional food and without being labelled as a GM product. In the meantime, even the developers of the CRISPR-Cas method have warned against using the techniques.

In the EU too some actors want these kinds of GMO to be approved for growing and consumption without thorough investigation and without being labelled as such. This has been reported by TestBioTec that argues that removing natural  DNA segments or blocking gene functions pose just as much risk to health as the splicing in of additional genes.