While geneticist Nazzareno Strampelli, the father of modern cereal cultivation, is currently being celebrated with an exhibition at the Ministry of Agriculture and the issuing of a special stamp, Europe and Italy are still behind when it comes to the implementation of the most advanced genetic improvement techniques applied to scientific research. Insiders report, in fact, that the barrier caused by a well-known ruling by the EU Court of Justice of 2018 and which, by putting transgenesis, cisgenesis, and mutagenesis on the same line, impeded the use of technological advances in this field, could finally be overcome this year.
"Agriculture 4.0 and the relevant supports only envisage the use of drones, sensors, and precision irrigation, while an essential role should be recognized in innovations such as genome editing. Unfortunately, not even the NRRP refers to genetic research and varietal improvement, although they are now considered among the main tools to guarantee the future sustainability of the global food system," explains Vincenzo Acquafredda (in the photo), a lawyer partner of Studio Trevisan & Cuonzo and specializing in intellectual property and new vegetable variety law.
In particular, he stressed that: "Unlike GMOs, genetic editing consists in a targeted intervention on the DNA of an organism, without inserting external genetic material coming from either the same or another species. It practically enables improvements that could occur naturally - albeit in a much longer timeframe - by 'silencing' a few critical genetic traits."
Man would therefore intervene not to alter but rather to hasten mutations, leading to various advantages, including increased productivity, higher resistance to diseases, and new nutritional characteristics. It is the case, for example, of biofortified tomatoes, which can provide our organisms with vitamin D.
"Great Britain managed to introduce these new productions because it is no longer part of the EU. Today, we are hoping that a proposal for a European regulation that could overcome the ruling of 2018 - a copy of which is already in circulation - will be approved as soon as possible. This would finally enable a more science-based characterization of what GMOs are compared with cisgenesis and genome editing, legitimizing the more promising advances. Becoming aware of this twenty years later has indeed caused delays, but better late than never!"
Various breeders are already getting organized for what looks like an epochal change. Once adopted, the new European regulation would immediately be applicable in all Member states. The varietal innovations resulting from genome editing will be able to avail themselves of two instruments to safeguard the rights of breeders: property rights protecting a specific variety lasting between 25 and 30 years, depending on the species, or a biotechnology patent lasting 20 years and protecting the plants part of a plant grouping (therefore not a single plant variety) or a specific DNA sequence.
Our thoughts go to Nazzareno Strampelli, who never patented his grains, leaving them free to travel the world and become the basis for modern cereal cultivation. Who knows what he would have achieved with the genetic techniques we have today. Those who celebrate him should remember him also when they are quick to judge other innovations.
For more information:
Studio legale Trevisan & Cuonzo
Tel.: +39 080 8764216
vacquafredda@trevisancuonzo.com