Video: Nettverket deltok i debatt under Cutting Edge-festivalen i Oslo.
Se opptak av debatten her:
[su_youtube url=»https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2hKhSJ9qEM»]
Dette svarte nettverket på spørsmåla:
Q) Will Norwegian farmers produce CRISPR-food in 10 years?
A) I’m not sure. I think in ten years we will have found many of the solutions to our agriculture where genetical modification isn’t needed. That is provided there’s given as much resources to research conventional agriculture and improving crops and methods as we today spend on research on GMOs.
Q) Should organisms where DNA has been removed be regulated in the same way as GMOs where DNA has been added?
A) Yes, the Norwegian law for GMOs is the best tool we have for ensuring that the use of this technology has a clear benefit for society and doesn’t pose any threaths to the environment or health.
We think that CRISPR-organisms also should fall under the category of genetically modified organisms, because this techonology poses many of the same insecurities we have with conventional gene modification. For example you have the off-target effect, which we’re unsure of the consequenses of. Removing or changing a genetic sequence may also have unpredictable consequenses. To know all this, you need to know what other functions the specific gene has in a cell. This is difficult with the knowledge we have today.
Q) Should consumers be informed if a food product has one less gene?
A) Yes, consumers has the right to know what is in their food and the upsides and downsides to this. This is important because then they can make an informed choice. And removing a gene sounds innocent, but could as mentioned have a large effect.
Q) What would it take for norwegian consumers to want CRISPR-food?
A) That there is a clear benefit to this way of producing food, and today we don’t know that. The CRISPR method is new, and was først published only a few years ago. A few years experience is far too little time to get a good overview of all the possible consequences that changing so complex systems could have. This accounts for all biological levels from cell to ecosystem. Thats way we need more research, which we as a network are not against and support.
Q) To eat or not to eat – do you want to eat CRISPR-food?
A) I wouldn’t fear for my health eating it, but I feel I know to little to say it is a better way of producing food than with conventional agriculture. We still do not have this knowledge.
