Experts Present Policy Options for Emerging Biotech Products

Experts from the North Carolina State University and partners released an analysis of the US regulatory review of three emerging biotech products based on parameters, practices, and preferences. Their findings are published in the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

The analysis is based on three data sets: (1) available literature on variables that are vital to non-expert publics in governing biotech products; (2) USDA-funded project results that surveyed stakeholders with subject matter expertise about their attitudes towards important risks, benefits, sustainability, and societal impact parameters for assessing novel agri-food technologies, including biotech; and (3) regulatory assessments of gene-edited soybeans, beef cattle, and mustard greens, all of which have been reviewed under U.S. regulatory agencies and laws of the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology.

Based on the analysis, the authors provided policy options for the US federal agencies to reinforce their oversight processes to support sustainable agri-food products that rely on novel technologies. The policy options presented include the following:

• require a broader assessment through an Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act
• create a novel institutional or cross-institutional framework
• develop a comprehensive, new biotechnology oversight law that requires the agencies to review each gene-edited product to some extent for a minimal set of health, environmental, and socio-economic variables

Download the full article in the Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.