Faster seed breeding with CRISPR-Cas
Genetic modification techniques, such as CRISPR-Cas, are receiving a lot of attention. The expectation is that the European Commission will present a new bill in June to enable breeders to use CRISPR-Cas. This offers opportunities and possibilities for making agriculture more sustainable. FHI spoke with Monique van Vegchel of the Plantum trade association. As a policy specialist, she focuses on research and new breeding techniques.
Cutting in DNA
One of the best known genetic modification techniques at the moment is CRISPR-Cas. This technique enables scientists to edit the DNA of organisms very precisely by cutting, replacing or adding pieces of the genetic material. Monique explains: “You can compare CRISPR-Cas with a Word file full of text, in which you are looking for one letter within a certain word. You can easily look up the word with CTRL-F and then adjust this letter. That is exactly what CRISPR-Cas does. This technique searches the DNA for a specific piece and then makes a cut with great precision. Because it is so precise, you can accurately predict where the mutation will take place.”
Accuracy is the added value of CRISPR-Cas compared to classical mutation breeding. “These methods are not very accurate. You do get mutations, but you don’t know exactly where. For example, you have to do extra work to identify and throw away the plants with unwanted mutations.”
A faster process
Breeding is an incredibly lengthy process that can take years or even decades to realize the desired adjustment in the crop. Monique states that the accuracy of CRISPR-Cas speeds up that process considerably. “The value of CRISPR-Cas is not so much that we can do very innovative things, but that it can be done much faster.”
That does not mean that the work has become easier. “Because CRISPR-Cas is so precise, you need to know in advance what your goal is. That is why you need to have a lot of knowledge of the genome of your crop and that requires preparation time.” In addition, it is also an art to subsequently realize a plant: “CRISPR-Cas is not done in a plant, but in a single cell. You then have to get a plant back from that cell by means of tissue culture.”
Blood pressure lowering tomatoes
The accuracy of CRISPR-Cas enables breeders to improve the health qualities of crops and thus develop more nutritious crops. For example, there are already tomatoes on the market in Japan that contain a high amount of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The manufacturer claims that GABA can help lower blood pressure and promote relaxation. In the US, the startup Pairwise has made improvements to the taste of Brassica Juncea, better known as mustard greens. This healthy leafy vegetable is still little eaten because of its bitter taste, but can be a good alternative to kale and brussels sprouts. Yield increase is also an important goal when developing new properties. For example, the yield of rice and corn can be significantly increased by targeted gene silencing using CRISPR-Cas.
Sustainable agriculture
In addition to health improvements and yield increases, there are also opportunities for sustainable agriculture, says Monique: “With climate change, new diseases are coming our way and these diseases can affect an entire harvest. It would be great to have crops that are resistant to these diseases. Because breeding is such a lengthy process, you have to accurately predict which diseases will come our way. Or you have to breed quickly when a certain disease is around. In addition, the speed of CRISPR-Cas is a major advantage.”
Another consequence of climate change is abiotic stress. These are sub-optimal growing conditions caused by, for example, drought, excess water or extreme temperatures. Monique indicates that there are also opportunities here, but the properties that determine how plants deal with this are usually much more complex.
Legislation
CRISPR-Cas has been subject to GMO legislation since 2018. This does not mean that it is forbidden to use the technique, but that it is very unattractive due to the long and expensive process within the current legislation. The European Commission is expected to present a new bill for the use of CRISPR-Cas in June this year. A whole process preceded this, Monique explains: “In 2020, the European Commission concluded that the current legislation is not fit-for-purpose. This was the reason to get started with new legislation. Then a process of impact assessments and targeted impact assessments starts. This is how society and stakeholders let us know what they think.” Partly based on the responses to the assessments, the European Commission is now formulating a legislative proposal.
When the new bill is ready, the European Parliament and the European member states must agree with a certain majority. This sounds easier than it is, because in 2024 there will be elections for the European Parliament. Monique indicates that it is therefore difficult to predict when we can expect a decision.
Future
If current legislation is maintained, there is a chance that some companies will move their research outside the EU. As a result, not only is a lot of knowledge lost in the Netherlands, but Europe also encounters problems when importing CRISPR-Cas products. “There is a good chance that foreign CRISPR-Cas products will eventually find their way to Europe. These products must then be labeled as GMO. It will be a challenge to maintain this.” Monique hopes that CRISPR-Cas products that can also be developed using traditional breeding methods will be regulated in the same way. “We believe that conventional like products, which are indistinguishable from each other and are just as safe, should be regulated in the same way.”
Monique will give a lecture on the application of CRISPR-Cas in breeding during the LabNL seminar ‘Developments in DNA technologies’. “I hope to make visitors enthusiastic and hopeful about the power of seed breeding.” Do you want to know more? Register for free for a visit to the exhibition and participation in the seminar via this link.
Challenges in monitoring PFAS
PFAS can be harmful to our health. Exposure in, for example, drinking water or food can lead to liver damage or affect the immune system. But how exactly do you detect PFAS? Ruben Kause of Wageningen Food Safety Research talks about the challenges.
As a monitoring specialist, Kause himself does not provide an estimate of the toxicity of a particular type of PFAS. He only measures: “I cannot answer the question whether PFAS in food is a major public health problem, because I am not a toxicologist. That question lies with the RIVM. I am purely looking at the question of how can you measure different types of PFAS.”
Sources of PFAS
Wageningen Food Safety Research is looking at numerous possible sources: “We measure everything around the food chain,” says Kause. “From soil to drinking water, from food to packaging materials. We mainly ingest different types of water, from surface water and groundwater to drinking water. But also many foods, often of animal origin such as meat and fish. Fish in particular are a known source of PFAS, especially if they are caught around areas with a lot of industry. But we also measure vegetables.”
A number of known PFAS variants are continuously monitored, says the researcher: “We make a distinction between PFAS that we monitor as standard and PFAS types that fall outside our regular monitoring program. A number of types of PFAS that have been widely used and are known to cause health damage are included in our regular programme. With our measurement system, we take a very focused look at those specific components. But there are over 6,000 different species, so we are also researching targeted methods to measure more unknown PFAS variants.”
“In the long term, we also have to switch to new measurement methods in order to properly measure all PFAS variants in which we become interested. For example, I conduct research into the detection of so-called monoPAPs. Those are phosphates. This species turned out to be difficult to detect, but we succeeded.”
Do you want to know more about the challenges of monitoring PFAS? Ruben Kause and Stefan van Leeuwen give a lecture during the LabNL trade fair. A visit to the trade fair and participation in the seminar is free of charge. Register directly via this link.
What else can you do with your laboratory education?
You have followed or are currently following lab education. But working in the lab is not the only route you can take. Are you curious what it is like to work in commerce? Time for a new challenge or personal development? In the workshop What else can I do with my lab training – working in commerce, you get an idea of working in a sales position. What exactly does a sales function entail, what characteristics do you need and what does a working week look like. View the program to see when you can attend this workshop.
Millions of samples from the Lifelines biobank help people grow old in a healthier way
Thanks to the participation of more than 160,000 participants, Lifelines collects millions of samples. As a biobank, they collect all kinds of data and bodily materials, such as urine, blood and hair. This data is made available to scientists and researchers. Hilde Laeremans, Team Leader Laboratory and Lifestore at Lifelines, will give a lecture during LabNL about the processing and storage of these samples. We already spoke to her about the process, the challenges and the research that is being carried out with Lifelines data. Read more.
Get started with practical workshops
During LabNL we offer a varied range of workshops. Would you like to know more about the advantages and disadvantages of detection systems? Or are you just interested in choosing the right HPLC-column? Our workshops, organized in collaboration with Avans+, provide the perfect opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills in these areas. Avans+ is a trainer for professionals and offers a wide range of training courses in laboratory technology. Read more about the Avans+ courses or view the complete range of workshops and seminars during LabNL.
Challenges in monitoring PFAS
PFAS can be harmful to our health. Exposure in, for example, drinking water or food can lead to liver damage or affect the immune system. But how exactly do you detect PFAS? Ruben Kause of Wageningen Food Safety Research talks about the challenges.
As a monitoring specialist, Kause himself does not provide an estimate of the toxicity of a particular type of PFAS. He only measures: “I cannot answer the question whether PFAS in food is a major public health problem, because I am not a toxicologist. That question lies with the RIVM. I am purely looking at the question of how can you measure different types of PFAS.”
Sources of PFAS
Wageningen Food Safety Research is looking at numerous possible sources: “We measure everything around the food chain,” says Kause. “From soil to drinking water, from food to packaging materials. We mainly ingest different types of water, from surface water and groundwater to drinking water. But also many foods, often of animal origin such as meat and fish. Fish in particular are a known source of PFAS, especially if they are caught around areas with a lot of industry. But we also measure vegetables.”
A number of known PFAS variants are continuously monitored, says the researcher: “We make a distinction between PFAS that we monitor as standard and PFAS types that fall outside our regular monitoring program. A number of types of PFAS that have been widely used and are known to cause health damage are included in our regular programme. With our measurement system, we take a very focused look at those specific components. But there are over 6,000 different species, so we are also researching targeted methods to measure more unknown PFAS variants.”
“In the long term, we also have to switch to new measurement methods in order to properly measure all PFAS variants in which we become interested. For example, I conduct research into the detection of so-called monoPAPs. Those are phosphates. This species turned out to be difficult to detect, but we succeeded.”
Do you want to know more about the challenges of monitoring PFAS? Ruben Kause and Stefan van Leeuwen give a lecture during the LabNL trade fair. A visit to the trade fair and participation in the seminar is free of charge. Register directly via this link.
Erik Scherder: “No stimulation, but a challenge!”
Erik Scherder is a professor of clinical neuropsychology at the VU University in Amsterdam, but is best known as an enthusiastic science educator about everything that has to do with the brain. During the Electronics & Application and LabNL trade fairs, Scherder will give a presentation about the beneficial effects of exercise on the brain and lifelong learning. Because modern people need a constant challenge, but according to the professor they do not seek it out sufficiently. FHI talked to him.
By: Dimitri Reijerman
“Work should preferably be challenging,” says Scherder. Even after and during a well-deserved summer holiday: “Because a challenge means making an effort. Some people spend their holidays on hiking trips, visiting big cities or immersing themselves in museums. That’s making an effort. Lying on the beach and gazing at the blue sky takes considerably less effort. If you have remained active during your holiday, your start-up to work is easier than after an inactive holiday. The brain functions related to decision making and motivation collapse if you have barely used them for a while. So keep challenging yourself during the holiday period.”
Because the temptation to do absolutely nothing during a holiday is logically great, says Scherder: “I understand the temptation to put the white wine on the table. But with that you run the risk of also ruining your health, because you don’t normally do that. Research shows that you should stay active. And remember, a challenge doesn’t have to be just ‘normal’ work. So is volunteer work.”
Technology makes you lazy
Modern technology can make people (too) lazy because the challenge is removed, according to the ‘brain professor’: “What you see is that it has become very attractive to make less and less mental effort. Think of the development of AI, for example, but it already started with the invention of the remote control for television. You used to get up to switch to another channel, now you sit passively on the couch. From an evolutionary point of view, we like it when things are made easier for us, as described in the law of least mental effort and the law of the least physical effort.”
“From the medical world you can only get excited about all technological developments. Recently, a Pink Floyd song was read based on brain waves with electrodes on the brain. In the future, this could mean that someone with speech disorders will still have opportunities for communication. But I now see that students at the VU can print their essays with Chat-GPT. That is of course not the mental effort that the brain needs, on the contrary: it only makes you lazier. We don’t need incentives, we need challenge!”
Keep moving
According to the professor of neuropsychology, visitors to E&A and LabNL often don’t get enough exercise during their work. That has consequences, says Scherder: “They are often sedentary professions. I want to make it clear to them that sitting for too long does not contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Make sure you move enough between your work. This way you keep yourself sharp and you can work more concentrated. In the long run, it also prevents chronic diseases. For example, I interrupt my lectures every half hour to do squats for three minutes.”
But you can also keep your brain in good health at home as a worker: “If you have been sitting all day and you go to the gym in the evening, you will not remove the negative effect of all that sitting during the day. And also think of a good day-night rhythm. Use the bedroom for only two things and don’t exercise two hours before you go to sleep. And the blue light from your cell phone can also disturb your sleep.”
In short, according to Scherder, it is healthier to think more often, despite the accessibility of modern technology: “If you look at studies on multimedia use, you see that people process stimuli more and more superficially. Consider the use of social media. We don’t go into depth much anymore and that reduces your attention capacity. We are less well off in that area than fifty years ago.”
“I am very optimistic by nature, but we have to slow down the rise and influence of AI. If you ask me whether all laptops should disappear from the lecture halls, I will say yes. Some students just sit and watch a movie during a lecture, which distracts other students. Just grab another notepad.”
prof. Dr. Erik Scherder opens the trade fair LabNL on Tuesday September 26th. He talks about the effect of exercise on the brain, the relationship between exercise, behavior and mental health, work stress and memory. Register for free to visit LabNL to attend the lecture.
Sustainability workshop
During the interactive workshop ‘Sustainability in the Lab’ we zoom in on the aspect of awareness. How do you ensure that an organization moves towards a more sustainable way of working? Réka Ötvös from Janssen Biologics and Jurriaan Beckers from Hogeschool Leiden talk about sustainability within their organizations. Then you will get started yourself with practical solutions for sustainability dilemmas in the laboratory. Register for a free visit and to participate in the workshop or read the interview with Jurriaan Beckers to learn more about the sustainability projects they have realized.
Samples: storage & coding
Samples are an essential part of working in a laboratory. Correct storage and identification are of great importance to ensure the quality of the samples and subsequent analyses. The size and scale of the laboratory play a part and extensive systems and procedures may be necessary for reliable results. During the seminar Samples: storage & coding, three speakers share their knowledge in the field of sample storage and coding in the laboratory. Read more about the seminar and register immediately.
As the Swiss army knife for DNA manipulation, CRISPR-Cas is “the holy grail”
CRISPR-Cas has undergone spectacular development over the past ten years. The gene-editing method exploits a component of the bacterial defense mechanism against viruses. CRISPR-Cas allows scientists to edit specific genes in the DNA of organisms with unprecedented precision, speed and affordability. But new, even better techniques are already emerging. During LabNL, CRISPR-Cas, along with other developments in DNA technologies, will be discussed by associate professor Raymond Staals of Wageningen University & Research.
Genetic modification techniques used to be labor intensive and time consuming. This made manipulation of DNA, the ‘software of life’, very expensive. Only specialized laboratories ventured into these techniques. That changed with the arrival of CRISPR-Cas around 2007-2008: genome research has become more accessible to scientists in all kinds of fields. This has led to an explosion of new discoveries and insights in the fields of genetics and biology.
The holy grail
As a researcher at WUR, Staals was involved in the development of CRISPR-Cas. “CRISPR-Cas is the holy grail for genome editing. As researchers, we’ve always wanted this: a single protein that you can program to cut at a specific spot in the DNA. It’s also super cheap and efficient.”
Since then, Staals and his colleagues have been working almost daily on further developments within the various CRISPR-Cas technologies, in addition to related research. “About half of my CRISPR-Cas research is fundamental research with the central question: how do these systems work?” says the associate professor. “There are still many questions, specifically about the so-called type III system. These systems are at least as interesting as the widely used Cas9. Especially in diagnostics, such as in the development of biosensors.”
“I currently have about ten PhD students in my research group, along with some postdocs, technicians and a lab manager. About 80 to 90 percent of our research focuses on CRISPR-Cas. I’ve been working on that since 2011, even before the technology boom. Fortunately, there is still more than enough for me to investigate. We also do subsidized work for companies and work on metabolic engineering projects. We are also interested in other bacterial defense systems. CRISPR-Cas is based on one such immune system, but there are many others.”
The collaboration between Staals and his fellow researchers has already been succesful, says the associate professor: “The other half of our work is applied research to use genome editing. Together with a number of students, I have also set up a spin-off company for this, ScopeDX. This arose from a competition in which students tried to solve diagnostic problems. They wanted to continue with their findings. ScopeDX is now still a successful spin-off. That is very nice.”
“The third major pillar is laboratory evolution,” says Staals. “We look at the systems in nature, but you can make them better by allowing them to evolve in the lab. One of the bottlenecks when applying CRISPR-Cas is that they usually cut in the right place in the DNA, but sometimes accidentally also in a different place, the so-called off targeting. Unfortunately, this happens regularly in practice. And it is precisely with medical applications that you do not want off-targeting. We want to be able to cut the DNA more precisely with the help of laboratory evolution.”
Applications in medicine
Despite the risks of off-targeting, CRISPR-Cas can no longer be ignored in medicine and the development of new medicines and therapies. Scientists believe they can use CRISPR-Cas to correct genetic abnormalities that are responsible for hereditary diseases, such as sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis and cystic fibrosis.
According to Staals, many successes have already been achieved in the past five years and the first patient has now been treated using DNA manipulation based on CRISPR-Cas. And in the coming years, these medical applications will gain momentum, the researcher thinks: “We will not only use Cas enzymes to cut the DNA, but also let them serve as a means of transport. This way we can use other enzymes This could have potential in treating certain types of cancers. And in the future I see other interesting methods to modify the DNA, such as prime editing and base editors. CRISPR-associated transposon homing also shows promise.”
There is a lot of optimism, even though a lot of research into medical applications takes place outside the Netherlands. “As pioneers in the fundamental knowledge of CRISPR-Cas, the Netherlands, and certainly also Wageningen, are among the best in the world. We are still discovering new CRISPR-Cas systems and how they work,” says Staals. “However, this is not the case for applications of this technique. You have to look at Asia and the US for that. This also has to do with the fact that European regulations hold us back somewhat. For example, CRISPR-Cas is still covered by GMO legislation in Europe. Nevertheless, I think that the regulations will change in the long term.”
The future of CRISPR-Cas
In addition to easier EU legislation, Staals sees another important development that can accelerate the research and application of CRISPR-Cas enormously: artificial intelligence. “We already use AI. AlphaFold (an AI application that makes predictions about protein structures.) Just like CRISPR-Cas, it has been a huge development in my field. In large-scale studies, we get so much data thrown at us that it is no longer comprehensible to us, by the order of magnitude. AI is actually very good at separating the wheat from the chaff and extracting useful information from it. And we can also start asking AI what the best choices are for the starting new experiments.”
As a Swiss army knife, we will hear a lot more about CRISPR-Cas. Because beyond medicine, the technology can be used in many more areas, from agriculture and food production to clearing up toxins in the environment (bioremediation) and combating the malaria mosquito, for example. However, much (fundamental) research will still be needed to exploit the full potential of CRISPR-Cas and its successors, regardless of regulation and ethical issues.
Do you want to attend this lecture? Register here for a visit to LabNL.
The lean laboratory is more than a trend
Geanne Sterenberg, Senior Expert Continuous Improvement at UMC Utrecht, will give the workshop ‘The first steps towards a lean laboratory’ during LabNL. During this workshop you will learn the basics of the lean method and what this can mean for your own working environment. Based on the 5-S method, Geanne gives practical tips that you can start with tomorrow. Do you want to know more? Read the interview with Geanne in which she explains what the lean method can offer employees.
Advantages and disadvantages of detection systems
Detectors play a vital role in chromatography and have undergone significant development in recent years. But which detection system best suits your analytical needs? During the workshop advantages and disadvantages of detection systems, Ron Peters of Covestro gives an overview of the available chromatography detection systems and their advantages and disadvantages. Using practical examples, he helps the participants to make well-considered choices in their analytical work. Read more about this workshop.
Challenges in monitoring PFAS
PFAS can be harmful to our health. Exposure in, for example, drinking water or food can lead to liver damage or affect the immune system. But how exactly do you detect PFAS? Ruben Kause of Wageningen Food Safety Research talks about the challenges.
As a monitoring specialist, Kause himself does not provide an estimate of the toxicity of a particular type of PFAS. He only measures: “I cannot answer the question whether PFAS in food is a major public health problem, because I am not a toxicologist. That question lies with the RIVM. I am purely looking at the question of how can you measure different types of PFAS.”
Sources of PFAS
Wageningen Food Safety Research is looking at numerous possible sources: “We measure everything around the food chain,” says Kause. “From soil to drinking water, from food to packaging materials. We mainly ingest different types of water, from surface water and groundwater to drinking water. But also many foods, often of animal origin such as meat and fish. Fish in particular are a known source of PFAS, especially if they are caught around areas with a lot of industry. But we also measure vegetables.”
A number of known PFAS variants are continuously monitored, says the researcher: “We make a distinction between PFAS that we monitor as standard and PFAS types that fall outside our regular monitoring program. A number of types of PFAS that have been widely used and are known to cause health damage are included in our regular programme. With our measurement system, we take a very focused look at those specific components. But there are over 6,000 different species, so we are also researching targeted methods to measure more unknown PFAS variants.”
“In the long term, we also have to switch to new measurement methods in order to properly measure all PFAS variants in which we become interested. For example, I conduct research into the detection of so-called monoPAPs. Those are phosphates. This species turned out to be difficult to detect, but we succeeded.”
Do you want to know more about the challenges of monitoring PFAS? Ruben Kause and Stefan van Leeuwen give a lecture during the LabNL trade fair. A visit to the trade fair and participation in the seminar is free of charge. Register directly via this link.
Trends in Chromatography
Chromatography has traditionally been a technique used in the lab to separate and analyze substances. Examples of chromatography techniques are gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). During LabNL, the latest developments in this field will be discussed in three lectures. Read more about the chromatography seminar or read about the latest trends in this technique here.
Which HPLC column should I choose for my application?
The choice to select the right column is not easy. Much has changed in liquid chromatography over the past two decades. The improvement of the hardware has affected the column selection. In this hands-on workshop, Aschwin van der Horst of Indorama Ventures Europe provides insight into all factors that are important when selecting a column for liquid chromatography. Participation in the workshop and a visit to LabNL is free. Register immediately!
Faster seed breeding with CRISPR-Cas
Genetic modification techniques, such as CRISPR-Cas, are receiving a lot of attention. The expectation is that the European Commission will present a new bill in June to enable breeders to use CRISPR-Cas. This offers opportunities and possibilities for making agriculture more sustainable. FHI spoke with Monique van Vegchel of the Plantum trade association. As a policy specialist, she focuses on research and new breeding techniques.
Cutting in DNA
One of the best known genetic modification techniques at the moment is CRISPR-Cas. This technique enables scientists to edit the DNA of organisms very precisely by cutting, replacing or adding pieces of the genetic material. Monique explains: “You can compare CRISPR-Cas with a Word file full of text, in which you are looking for one letter within a certain word. You can easily look up the word with CTRL-F and then adjust this letter. That is exactly what CRISPR-Cas does. This technique searches the DNA for a specific piece and then makes a cut with great precision. Because it is so precise, you can accurately predict where the mutation will take place.”
Accuracy is the added value of CRISPR-Cas compared to classical mutation breeding. “These methods are not very accurate. You do get mutations, but you don’t know exactly where. For example, you have to do extra work to identify and throw away the plants with unwanted mutations.”
A faster process
Breeding is an incredibly lengthy process that can take years or even decades to realize the desired adjustment in the crop. Monique states that the accuracy of CRISPR-Cas speeds up that process considerably. “The value of CRISPR-Cas is not so much that we can do very innovative things, but that it can be done much faster.”
That does not mean that the work has become easier. “Because CRISPR-Cas is so precise, you need to know in advance what your goal is. That is why you need to have a lot of knowledge of the genome of your crop and that requires preparation time.” In addition, it is also an art to subsequently realize a plant: “CRISPR-Cas is not done in a plant, but in a single cell. You then have to get a plant back from that cell by means of tissue culture.”
Blood pressure lowering tomatoes
The accuracy of CRISPR-Cas enables breeders to improve the health qualities of crops and thus develop more nutritious crops. For example, there are already tomatoes on the market in Japan that contain a high amount of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The manufacturer claims that GABA can help lower blood pressure and promote relaxation. In the US, the startup Pairwise has made improvements to the taste of Brassica Juncea, better known as mustard greens. This healthy leafy vegetable is still little eaten because of its bitter taste, but can be a good alternative to kale and brussels sprouts. Yield increase is also an important goal when developing new properties. For example, the yield of rice and corn can be significantly increased by targeted gene silencing using CRISPR-Cas.
Sustainable agriculture
In addition to health improvements and yield increases, there are also opportunities for sustainable agriculture, says Monique: “With climate change, new diseases are coming our way and these diseases can affect an entire harvest. It would be great to have crops that are resistant to these diseases. Because breeding is such a lengthy process, you have to accurately predict which diseases will come our way. Or you have to breed quickly when a certain disease is around. In addition, the speed of CRISPR-Cas is a major advantage.”
Another consequence of climate change is abiotic stress. These are sub-optimal growing conditions caused by, for example, drought, excess water or extreme temperatures. Monique indicates that there are also opportunities here, but the properties that determine how plants deal with this are usually much more complex.
Legislation
CRISPR-Cas has been subject to GMO legislation since 2018. This does not mean that it is forbidden to use the technique, but that it is very unattractive due to the long and expensive process within the current legislation. The European Commission is expected to present a new bill for the use of CRISPR-Cas in June this year. A whole process preceded this, Monique explains: “In 2020, the European Commission concluded that the current legislation is not fit-for-purpose. This was the reason to get started with new legislation. Then a process of impact assessments and targeted impact assessments starts. This is how society and stakeholders let us know what they think.” Partly based on the responses to the assessments, the European Commission is now formulating a legislative proposal.
When the new bill is ready, the European Parliament and the European member states must agree with a certain majority. This sounds easier than it is, because in 2024 there will be elections for the European Parliament. Monique indicates that it is therefore difficult to predict when we can expect a decision.
Future
If current legislation is maintained, there is a chance that some companies will move their research outside the EU. As a result, not only is a lot of knowledge lost in the Netherlands, but Europe also encounters problems when importing CRISPR-Cas products. “There is a good chance that foreign CRISPR-Cas products will eventually find their way to Europe. These products must then be labeled as GMO. It will be a challenge to maintain this.” Monique hopes that CRISPR-Cas products that can also be developed using traditional breeding methods will be regulated in the same way. “We believe that conventional like products, which are indistinguishable from each other and are just as safe, should be regulated in the same way.”
Monique will give a lecture on the application of CRISPR-Cas in breeding during the LabNL seminar ‘Developments in DNA technologies’. “I hope to make visitors enthusiastic and hopeful about the power of seed breeding.” Do you want to know more? Register for free for a visit to the exhibition and participation in the seminar via this link.
Learn more about working ergonomically during LabNL
Pipetting in the same position for a long time increases the risk of physical complaints and ergonomics are therefore important for the daily work of lab technicians. During the workshop Commitment to sustainable employability: what does that mean for ergonomics in the lab? Iris van ’t Leven lets visitors think about physical strain in the laboratory. A visit to the exhibition and participation in the workshop is free.
What else can you do with your laboratory education?
You have followed or are currently following lab education. But working in the lab is not the only route you can take. Are you curious what it is like to work in commerce? Time for a new challenge or personal development? In the workshop What else can I do with my lab training – working in commerce, you get an idea of working in a sales position. What exactly does a sales function entail, what characteristics do you need and what does a working week look like. View the program to see when you can attend this workshop.
