UK Gene-Editing Bill Raises Animal Welfare Concerns

UK Gene-Editing Bill Raises Animal Welfare Concerns
A tractor cultivates the ground for rapeseed oil crops at a farm in southern England, on March 28, 2022. Daniel Leal / AFP via Getty Images
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The British government claims its new plans to allow gene-editing are nothing more than traditional breeding methods sped up by modern technology. But some experts are disputing this, arguing the technology is imprecise and will open the door to the “wild west” of genetics.

The plans, laid out in the Genetic Technology Bill on May 25, have been broadly—if not uniformly—welcomed by the farming community including the National Farmers Union.