The NFU has responded to the Government’s consultation into future regulation surrounding gene editing, saying that changing regulations surrounding gene editing could protect crops and support its net zero by 2040 ambitions.

The NFU said that new precision breeding techniques, such as gene editing, could protect crops and animals from pests and disease, help deliver net zero and allow farmers to produce more home-grown food.

The government consultation is focused on stopping certain gene editing organisms from being regulated in the same way as genetic modification, as long as they could have been produced naturally or through traditional breeding.

Leaders of Scotland’s agricultural supply industry have called on rural stakeholders to unite to put pressure on the Scottish Government to change its stance on gene editing.

Getting access to the technology is among the key priorities of the AIC, the supply industry’s trade association, outlined in its manifesto ahead of the Scottish parliamentary elections in May.

The renewed pressure on the Scottish Government to reconsider the use of gene editing in agriculture comes as the UK Government’s consultation on the topic closes and just ahead of an imminent report by the European Commission.

A New Strategy, UK Plant Science Research Strategy: A Green Roadmap for the Next 10 Years, sets out clear goals for research and innovation involving plants.

The strategy is crucial to address a range of global challenges, such as:

- reaching net zero to mitigate the effects of climate change
- ensuring a sustainable and secure agri-food supply
- protecting biodiversity and enhancing our environment
- addressing health and wellbeing issues within our populations.
This strategy was led and authored by Professor Jane Langdale CBE FRS, University of Oxford, and involved very extensive consultation with members of the research and innovation community.

"Catastrophic" cuts to the UK's science budget could result in top scientists leaving the country, a Nobel laureate has warned. Sir Paul Nurse also said science was crucial to the UK's reputation overseas and for dealing with climate change.

Scientists are concerned the UK's domestic science budget will have to foot a bill that has arisen as part of the UK's Brexit deal with the EU. The UK science funding body might have to absorb a cost of £2bn a year.

The government has helped invest £74m into a new virtual agri-tech hub to improve the efficiency and output of agricultural technology. The Easter Bush AgriTech Hub will be centred at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies’ Easter Bush Campus – Europe’s largest concentration of animal science research expertise.

The virtual centre will foster collaboration between researchers and companies to advance food production, work with new tech and move toward net zero goals. Experts will use data to develop genetics and health innovations for agricultural science and business, and to build initiatives and novel systems of production, such as robotics.

Gene-editing technologies could help prevent swine flu virus on farms and reduce the risk of a pandemic, according to UK researchers. The approach could be used to improve vaccine effectiveness and to produce pigs resistant to swine flu, scientists at the Roslin Institute said.

The disease was transmitted to humans across the world in the 2009 pandemic and led to pig industry costs of around US$1 billion. It causes respiratory illness, fever, loss of appetite and impacts on productivity.

But new gene-editing tools could complement current strategies for controlling swine flu, researchers concluded in a newly published review study.

The entire genome of the canola crop has been mapped by an international consortium of researchers looking to advance the globally important industry.

The results of the consortium’s research is expected to have immense economic value for the world's leading producers and exporters of the crop.

Canola is an oilseed considered to be a high-quality vegetable oil and commonly used in food production and various industrial applications, including biofuel.

UK researchers plan to apply to Defra for consent to grow the first trial crop of gene-edited wheat in Europe this coming autumn.

Scientists at Rothamsted Research have used gene editing (GE) to develop a type of wheat that is less likely to produce acrylamide, a natural chemical which forms in bread when it is toasted

Acrylamide has been proven to cause cancer in rats and mice and it is a likely carcinogenic in humans.

Growing peas and beans and precision farming are among the most effective measures in reducing emissions on farms, new research has found.

Various farm technologies and practices which can reduce GHG emissions were studied as part of the government’s plans to meet its net-zero target.

Researchers from Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) found that while increased grain legume cultivation is the most effective measure, providing on average 553 kg CO2e per hectare savings annually, it is also the most expensive option with a net average cost of £406 per hectare per year.

Despite widespread media coverage claiming that the Co-op would refuse to stock foodstuffs made from gene edited crops or animals, the supermarket this week made it plain that this was not the case.

Steve Murrells, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said that the news release which had resulted in the coverage “did not reflect the supermarket’s views or approach” - and had been issued without its approval, giving the false impression that it had signed up as a supporter of the #NotInMySupermarket campaign, which is lobbying against the Defra consultation on gene editing.