The long-awaited changes
State Duma Council in Russia is considering a list ChangesRegarding the legal regulations regarding the development and use of genetic technologies. The upcoming changes distinguish between genetically modified and genetically modified organisms – in the first case, we are talking about changing the genome due to DNA inserts that are not characteristic of the species, in the second – changing the genome without such inserts.
The amendments revised and clarified the wording of a number of terms, introduced the concept of closely related species – living organisms and closed systems between which gene transfer is possible in a natural way – species in which the products of genetic engineering do not come into contact. with population and environment. In addition, the part that equates work with genetically modified microorganisms on a scale exceeding laboratory research to high-risk tasks was deemed invalid.
Candidate of Biological Sciences Vasily Taranov said, “The changes are of a framework nature – that is, they form concepts, that is, regulation will apparently be dealt with by the relevant departments – perhaps they will introduce new laws or regulations.” The Head of the Stress Resistance Laboratory explained to the Gazeta.ru facilities of the All-Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology (VNIISB).
“Changes are now being made and a new law is expected to be developed, which is already a much longer process. The main fundamental change is the separation of genetically modified and genetically modified organisms.
Genetically modified organisms stand out because they do not contain foreign DNA, and there should be a completely different attitude towards them, – academician Gennady Karlov, director of the VNIISB, told socialbites.ca.
– Another basic point is that industrial microorganisms can use all kinds of amino acids, etc. the possibility of using it for production. The previous version of the law actually equated them with highly pathogenic organisms, and we bought products from these microorganisms abroad for that matter, but we could not practically produce domestically. Now such microorganisms will be transferred, say, to a milder category, and accordingly we will have the opportunity to build factories, use our producer strains to produce essential components – amino acids, vitamins – very important for animal feed. , etc.
“It’s hard to make it worse than it is now,” adds Biological Sciences Candidate Alexander Panchin, senior researcher at the Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences. – In the current situation in Russia, the cultivation of genetically modified organisms is practically prohibited, and therefore this field practically does not work – neither in agriculture nor in animal husbandry.
Genetic engineering is used in medicine – for example, all insulin is obtained thanks to genetically modified organisms. But in agriculture and animal husbandry, all of these are cut completely.
However, imports from other countries are allowed. A very strange law that imposes such restrictions, I have spoken against it many times. It seems to me that it has done and continues to harm Russian science a lot, because if some kind of development comes from Russian scientists, it cannot be applied, but exported somewhere, and then we will import the finished products. And now our legislators seem to understand that genetic engineering is very necessary.”
invisible attachment
However, it is not yet clear how exactly it is planned to determine whether a plant or animal is genetically edited in the future. When introducing foreign DNA, it is possible to detect such an attachment, but when changing the body’s own genome, it is extremely unlikely to find signs of change.
The human genome consists of approximately three billion “letters”, the nucleotides of adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine, designated A, T, G, and C. In the case of plant genomes, the number of “letters” can reach dozens. billions. When editing the genome, only one letter can change – and to find it, you must first completely “read” the plant genome, which will cost millions of rubles, and then prove that the change occurred precisely because of editing. Not selection or spontaneous mutations, Taranov explained.
“Naturally, it is not possible to routinely do such analysis. However, the law does not define it in any way, and it is often unclear whether this falls within the scope of regulation. The phrases are written so abstractly that, on the one hand, everything can be gathered under it, and on the other, a lot can be extracted from it if desired, ”she believes.
Scientists agree that it makes little sense to depend on whether the organism is regulated: with plants and animals, their safety and nutritional value are important, not how they were obtained.
“Legislators believe that genetically modified organisms are some kind of special organisms with some special characteristics, special risks. But in fact, in all organisms, DNA consists of four types of nucleotides. And mutations in this DNA occur in every generation, in all kinds of animals, plants, bacteria – anyone. A person in each generation has about 50 new mutations that none of their parents have.
That is, changes in DNA are normal and natural.
The difference between genetic engineering and other methods of obtaining new plant or animal species is only that during genetic engineering we have already observed some genetic changes somewhere, with the help of research we find what causes them and reproduce in some of them. path. then in a living organism purposefully, without affecting other genes and DNA segments,” says Panchin.
Check all products
Panchin and Taranov explain that it is important for any food to be checked for safety, regardless of how and where it is obtained. Both classical selection and random mutations can cause genetic changes that affect nutritional traits and potential hazards. However, it is pointless in this context to single out any particular class of organisms.
“In terms of biology, a class of organisms like GMOs doesn’t exist at all,” says Panchin. “Because the same mutation can also be made artificially in the laboratory, or it can be obtained by chance in the course of evolution and the result will be the same.
It doesn’t matter how this or that mutation is obtained – it only matters what kind of mutation occurs and what the consequences are.”
Working with genetically modified organisms for medical and research purposes is not difficult even today, but in the field of agriculture scientists are faced with great challenges.
“If we talk about research, it is not prohibited in principle in our country, even testing is possible. But the question of practical use is very difficult: if everything is more or less normal in medicine, we use genetically modified vaccines, drugs, then, for example, the cultivation of transgenic plants in our country is prohibited. But at the same time it is possible to import into the country, especially for feed purposes and even for food purposes, ”says Karlov.
It is difficult to foresee further changes to the law and regulations, but scientists hope they will be positive. However, rapid changes, especially in agriculture, cannot be counted on – the fears of the population and the attention of lawmakers are affecting.
“In principle, society has a very wary attitude towards GMOs, so departments are reinsured. The law itself does not prohibit anything, but there are contradictions in statutes, moratoriums, all this creates insurmountable restrictions at the moment. All these statutes need to be gradually weakened so that eventually it will be possible to use such products. China is following this path, they allow the cultivation of genetically modified plants. They have their own science that gives results, and the authorities are gradually easing legal restrictions, ”says Karlov.
Edit Future
Meanwhile, Taranov believes that the development of genomic editing technologies in agriculture in other countries could lead to high competition in the export of products.
“For example, so far our grain is no worse than what other countries export. This cannot be said for many other crops, such as sugar beet.
And if in Western countries and in the east, in China, genetic engineering technologies are actively used and implemented, if more money and intellectual resources are invested in them, then all this will be in the fields. Moreover, the developer may not even say that he is using genetic editing,” he explains.
Changing the law must begin with the fact that those who do it must first understand how genetic engineering works and should not rely on the opinion of the population, Panchin said. The society itself needs to be educated and explained how genetic engineering technologies work and what benefits they can provide. This will help clarify the situation, dispel many unfounded fears and improve people’s attitude to genetic technologies.
“We’re in a bit of uncertainty now,” admits Taranov, who edited the genomes of agricultural crops. – And this is a huge problem in terms of the development of these technologies in the country.
When I talk to potential beneficiaries of our work, they ask the question – how are they going to commercialize it? And I can not answer this question intelligibly, because I myself do not know. There is no law enforcement and the law does not yet regulate the rules for the use of genome-edited plants. If I were in a perfect world, I would write this law differently. However, given our reality, this is already a step forward.