The Precision Breeding Bill has passed into law

Precision breeding through gene editing allows scientists to accelerate what might otherwise be possible through natural processes and conventional breeding over a longer time frame.

Professor Giles Oldroyd, CSC Director

On March 23 2023 the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill passed into law. In response to the bill passing, the director of the Crop Science Centre, Professor Giles Oldroyd said “The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill is a crucial development that opens up new possibilities for science and innovation to transform the pace of agricultural research and development. The UK, along with countries around the world, is in a race to climate-proof food systems, and conventional breeding alone cannot keep up with the rapidly changing challenges of new growing conditions.”

“Precision breeding through gene editing allows scientists to accelerate what might otherwise be possible through natural processes and conventional breeding over a longer time frame. UK science and research has made extraordinary advances in this field over the last 30 years, and this law expands the remit of scientific exploration, which can only bring benefits.”