Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR) is National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed. The laboratory receives samples for this purpose from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), the competent authority in the Netherlands.

Pieces of DNA

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are living things that have been genetically modified. These can include plants, animals, and microorganisms, as well as any products derived from them. For instance, a soy bean plant can be modified to resist certain herbicides, while a maise plant can be made resistant to specific insects. The laboratory utilised genetic modification to make the soy bean and maise resistant. This process involved inserting gene constructs that may contain genetic elements from other plants, animals, microorganisms, or artificial DNA sequences.

CRISPR/Cas

Currently, Novel Breeding Techniques (NBTs) are being applied to generate GMOs. An example is targeted mutagenesis using CRISPR/Cas, which can modify or remove single nucleotides. WFSR is currently investigating the potential to detect these forms of GMOs.

Enforcement of EU regulations

The Dutch government is responsible for the enforcement of EU regulations in the field of GMOs based on the following regulations:

Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003 stipulates that the manufacturer of GMO varieties permitted in the EU must provide an event-specific detection method for enforcement purposes. These methods are sent to the European Union Reference Laboratory for GM Food and Feed (EURL-GMFF), Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, along with the relevant reference materials. These methods are evaluated within the European Network of GMO Laboratories (ENGL), in which WFSR participates. Furthermore, WFSR develops its own detection methods as well.

The EU website GMO Register displays a list of GMOs that are currently authorised in the EU.