Claire Robinson reports:

“Currently, governments around the world are moving to scrap regulatory safeguards around genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that are claimed to contain no foreign genes or foreign DNA. They choose to believe GMO lobby assertions that GM gene-edited plants and animals don’t contain any foreign genetic material in their genomes and are therefore as “natural” and safe as conventionally bred plants and animals.

But this is false. GM gene-edited organisms pose risks that are not confined to the presence of foreign DNA. And GM gene-edited plants and animals can and do contain foreign genetic material in their genomes, either by intention or inadvertently due to the imprecision and limitations of the gene editing process. Below are some of the ways that foreign DNA can get into the genomes of gene-edited GMOs”: (1) Foreign genes or DNA can be intentionally inserted… (2) Fragments of foreign plasmid DNA can inadvertently integrate into plants’ genomes… (3) GMO developers often turn a blind eye to foreign DNA… (4) Claims that using pre-assembled editing tools avoid foreign DNA are false… (5) Foreign DNA from gene editing “kill switches” could contaminate the genome… (6) Foreign DNA from animal-derived culture media can be inserted into the genome of gene-edited animals… (7) GMO developers fail to clean up foreign DNA… and (8) Risks not confined to foreign DNA.

Learn more: Why Claims That Gene Editing Doesn’t Involve Insertion of Foreign Genes or DNA Are False