Photo: Dan Jenkins speaking on Plant breeding innovation policy at the International Seed Federation conference in Capetown in June.
The regulatory environment around gene edited crops is moving very quickly, and in a positive direction. Pairwise VP for Regulatory and Government Affairs, Dan Jenkins, is following the space carefully and working to help shape decisions to ensure clear, transparent, predictable, and science-based regulatory systems that will ensure gene editing can continue to bring societal benefits that will improve our global food system.
From Ottawa to London to Capetown, the Pairwise regulatory team has represented the interests of small gene editing companies working in food and agriculture at a series of events these past two months. The team has met with policy makers from Canada, Japan, UK, and the US. With an increasing number of countries endorsing science-informed product-based regulatory systems, the future looks increasingly bright for gene editing.
“As a small start-up on a mission to improve people’s diets with new varieties of fruits and vegetables, we are really encouraged by recent policy developments that recognize the value of the technology as a breeding tool. It’s this recognition that has led to recent announcements in Canada, the United Kingdom and even proposed legislation in the European Union that are very positive,” said Jenkins. “There has been positive reception to our mission, our Conscious Green product, and our approach to transparency. “
To date, Pairwise has completed two dozen regulatory determinations in seven countries, in many cases, Pairwise applications have been the first to road test emerging regulatory systems, paving the way for a smoother path to market for others.
A recent Pairwise publication in Nature Plants, helps provide policy makers with a strong foundation for positive decisions that will help ensure applications of CRISPR will benefit society.
