About: genetically modified organisms

EU and GMOs: The case for a knowledge-based society

Albert Einstein said, “It is harder to crack prejudice than an atom.” A persistent prejudice in the EU is that against GMOs. An EU court judgment has restated that fears are unfounded, but will Europe take the opportunity to become a science-based society, ask Roberto Defez and Dennis Eriksson.

Decades-old GMO regulation unfit for 21st century

The European Commission is set to guide the regulatory fate of new biotechnologies crucial to the future of plant breeding. To meet such agricultural challenges, we need a product-oriented, flexible and adjustable regulatory system, write Klaus Ammann and Marcel Kuntz. 

Freedom of choice over GMO cultivation is a step forward

The European Parliament made history on 15 January this year, when it adopted the so-called opt-out proposal for genetically modified organisms (GMO). The decision to grant national governments this freedom and legal certainty was vital in a time of such euroscepticism, writes Elisabeth Köstinger. 

Why the EU should agree to disagree on GMOs

The demand to transfer powers from the EU back to the national level is politically en-vogue in several EU member states at the moment. EU policy on agricultural biotechnology, however, is an interesting exception, writes Maria Weimer.

GM crops: Forget the money, follow the science

The recent allegations surrounding GM crops are hypocritical and drive the political discussion in the wrong direction, writes Sebastian Olényi, a PhD researcher and freelance journalist specialising in science communication, environmental sciences and biotechnology.