The US gives green light to GMO cereal

US regulatory authorities have given the green light without regulatory hurdles to Danforth Center scientists to advance their gene-edited teff ration grain to semi-dwarf height trait, enabling reduced grain losses in a staple food for millions in developing countries . A review of pre-market regulatory status by the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service concluded that teff grass modified by genome editing to have a semi-dwarf stature is not subject to regulation of biotechnology under the USDA SECURE rule. The new semi-dwarf forage grass was developed by researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center's International Crop Improvement Institute (IICI), who are collaborating with the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute to improve teff productivity using new crop breeding techniques. plants (NBTs). ). The reduced height of the new teff lines is expected to provide resistance to lodging (slumping), resulting in yield losses of ...