Grainswest - Fall 2021

Fall 2021 grainswest.com 11 BY IAN DOIG • GRAPHIC COURTESY OF CROPLIFE CANADA A comparable cereals example might be a new wheat variety that doubles the fibre in a loaf of bread. “This is the stuff the public will be very interested in, but to me, that’s the tip of the iceberg,” said Affleck. “So much of the power of gene editing is just making the breeding we do more efficient and effective.” If breeders can create higher yielding varieties with better disease resistance in six to eight years rather than a decade, this will be a great on-farm benefit, he said. “Better varieties help make a farm more economi- cally sustainable as well as environmental- ly sustainable.” Affleck was encouraged to see Health Canada recently propose that gene editing should be regulated in the same man- ner as conventional breeding. This will encourage its use and put the country on equal footing with innovative trade competitors such as Argentina, Australia, Japan and the U.S., he said. “[We must] make sure we get the right environment for innovation at home, and that we pre- pare our trading partners to accept those products so we don’t end up with any trade challenges. If you can’t sell it, you can’t grow it.” The ag industry must communicate with the public on this subject in the way that it failed to do with GMOs, he said. When they’re given factual information, consumers are more likely to be comforta- ble with innovations such as gene editing. An indicator this approach can turn the tide against misinformation prevalent on the internet, CropLife consumer polling has seen negative impressions of biotech- nology decline to 10 per cent from 18 per cent of respondents between 2010 and 2020. As well, the proliferation of food labels created by organizations such as The Non-GMO Project are not a direct representation of consumer demand for non-GMO products. It reflects a broad labelling trend in which product pack- aging promises the absence of various ingredients, said Affleck. Rather than advocate for certain policies, Nature Nurtured describes the science and outlines the benefits of gene editing to the public on its website and on social media. This has included a light-hearted, pun-heavy informational campaign that featured lines such as “Let- tuce use plants to help beet diseases” and “Turnip the innovation, Canada.” Government policy makers are the ulti- mate target of such advocacy, but Kagale describes the global gene editing regula- tory landscape as unsettled, which may impede uptake of the technology. “Attitudes towards the nuances of gene ed- iting will have huge impacts on how this technology is implemented and traded across the world,” he said. “But global mo- mentum is building around use of CRISPR in crop breeding, so I am anticipating exciting times ahead.” Krista Thomas, Canada Grains Council vice-president of seed innovation and trade policy, said, for its part, Health Canada’s proposed plant breeding guidelines have done much to clarify when new varieties will require a premarket safety assessment. She believes this will encourage Canadi- an research by helping seed companies and plant breeders plan and fund their programs. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is also part of the regulatory pro- cess and is now engaged in consultations that may affect policy in this area. “The lack of clarity in the regulatory system has really been a roadblock for plant breeders bringing the most innovative varieties forward in Canada,” said Thomas. “The message from Health Canada is really that gene editing is just as safe as conventional breeding and other types of plant breeding,” she added. “It sends a signal that Canada is a science-based regulator and is open for innovation.” For more information on NatureNurtured, visit naturenurtured.ca. To leverage increased public acceptance of biotechnology, CropLife Canada operates the Nature Nurtured program. Its recent consumer ad campaign took a lighthearted approach to the benefits of gene editing.