ASSESSMENTS

Genetic Editing: Avoiding the GMO Controversy

Jul 31, 2015 | 09:04 GMT

Dr. Frank Thieme, manager of development at Icon Genetics, demonstrates the small-scale introduction of bacteria containing engineered DNA into Nicotiana benthamiana, a close relative of tobacco.
Dr. Frank Thieme, manager of development at Icon Genetics, demonstrates the small-scale introduction of bacteria containing engineered DNA into Nicotiana benthamiana, a close relative of tobacco.

(SEAN GALLUP/Getty Images)

Forecast Bullets

  • As new technologies lead to reduced costs and improved accuracy, gene editing will become more prevalent.
  • Social debate and the inherent complexity of gene editing will delay applications in health care.
  • Gene editing will advance both industrial and agricultural biotechnology, but it is in the agricultural sector that gene editing will be most used in the near term.
  • The United States will remain a world leader in agricultural biotechnology, though China will likely become more competitive.

Gene-editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9 will not go unused as the ethical debate over human genomic editing continues. Rather, industry and agriculture will reap the benefits of cheaper, more accurate gene editing as the techniques continue to improve....

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