The UK government on Wednesday announced rule changes that will make it easier to research and develop “gene-edited” food crops, though it was opposed by nearly 90 percent of respondents to the consultation.
The rule changes will allow field trials in England of gene-edited crops without having to go through a licensing process that takes a couple of months and costs researchers £5,000 to £10,000 ($6,700-$13,500), although scientists will still have to inform the Environment Department (Defra) of their work.
