"The flow of information between scientists, breeders and the public is essential"

What agricultural challenges does NRP 84 aim to address?

NRP 84 will assess the potential of new breeding technologies (NBTs) to produce crops that could be grown in a more sustainable way. For example, the use of NBTs could produce new varieties that are resistant to local pests and diseases and that could therefore require less pesticide. The promise of NBTs is to create crop varieties with new environmentally beneficial traits, while retaining traits already established in crops suitable for Swiss agriculture and consumers. Older technologies have made it possible to create new desirable traits, but they often risked changing crops in undesirable ways.

What other challenges does NRP 84 aim to tackle?

The program also aims to assess the societal dimensions of the introduction of NBTs in Switzerland, as these dimensions are as important to the programme as the technical aspects. We need to understand how the Swiss public, including different stakeholders, from farmers to consumers, perceive the potential benefits and risks of NBTs. There are good reasons to believe that NBTs are better than traditional breeding methods, but the public has historically been resistant to techniques that involve genetic modification in the laboratory. However, unlike earlier so-called transgenic approaches, which involve moving genes from one species to another, NBTs involve very different methods, and the public may accordingly come to view them differently too. The flow of information between scientists, breeders and the public is essential.

What makes NBTs so different?

Unlike earlier gene-editing techniques, which relied on very expensive systems accessible to a restricted pool of scientists and breeders, the NBTs at the heart of NRP 84 involve the CRISPR/Cas9 method whose development 13 years ago earned Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier the Nobel Prize in 2020. CRISPR/Cas9 and related approaches are innovative because they allow introducing very precise mutations into the genome, indistinguishable from those that occur randomly in nature; critically, they don’t involve moving foreign genetic material into plants. In crop development, they thus allow precise modifications that, for instance, confer disease resistance to established varieties – but with a greater likelihood of retaining other valuable traits unaltered. The precision of the NBTs, but also the ease and low cost of their use, make them a real game changer in plant breeding.

Are new plant breeding systems already in use internationally?

Yes, new NBTs are widely adopted globally. Their ease of use has already led to the modification of over a hundred plant species, including major staples like wheat, rice and maize. These modifications have enhanced traits such as yield, taste, nutritional quality and disease resistance. Disease-resistant crops have the potential to reduce pesticide use, which could contribute to more sustainable agriculture and biodiversity protection. As the global use of NBTs continues to grow, it is crucial for Switzerland to evaluate their potential benefits, drawbacks and societal implications, also from a regulatory point of view.

What regulatory challenges do NBTs face?

A significant focus of our program is to analyse the complex regulatory landscape of NBTs in Switzerland and abroad. The program will assess the adequacy of Switzerland's current legal framework for regulating NBTs, paying attention to ongoing regulatory changes in the EU and beyond. In this sense, the programme is very timely for researchers interested in the formulation of policy and the legal landscape. The obtained results are expected to lead to a participatory exchange with legislators. In the medium and longer term, NRP 84's research will provide valuable insights to support Swiss policy by understanding the science, economic implications and stakeholder concerns, from farmers to consumers. It will thus also help guide the government in deciding on new rules that encourage innovation in plant breeding, while keeping biosafety and environmental risks at acceptable levels. In assessing benefits and risks, it’s important to compare NBTs with other agronomic practises currently in use, some of which are well known to seriously damage the environment.

Are there implications for agricultural innovation?

Yes, NRP 84 has both direct and indirect implications for Switzerland. Directly, the program will fund projects using NBTs to develop crops tailored to Swiss agriculture, potentially benefiting farmers, the environment and consumers. Additionally, the innovative research could influence future crop breeding, showcasing the capabilities of Swiss scientists. Beyond scientific advancements, NRP 84 indirectly also aims to foster a better understanding of how various stakeholders – including farmers, environmental managers and consumers – perceive NBTs and the crops they produce. However, to fully benefit from these technologies, it is crucial to address stakeholder concerns and knowledge gaps, promoting greater understanding of both the science and the basis for any reservations people may have.

Does NRP 84 build on the goals and outcomes of NRP 59 (“Benefits and Risks of the Deliberate Release of Genetically Modified Plants”)?

While NRP 84 shares similarities with NRP 59, its focus is different. Specifically, NRP 59 dealt with the deliberate introduction of foreign genetic material into plants and the subsequent release of the genetically modified plants. In contrast, NRP 84’s overall focus is on agricultural sustainability in a world facing rapid climate change, and on how a new form of plant breeding could help to improve sustainability. NRP 84 is also different from NRP 59 in considering not only scientific and agricultural aspects, but also the societal and legal implications of the new techniques.

How will NRP 84 include societal concerns regarding NBTs?

Addressing societal questions is a key focus of NRP 84, because the successful implementation of any new technology in Swiss agriculture depends on public acceptance. The program will explore both the enthusiasm for, and the resistance to, the new technologies. It will also investigate how the public can reasonably assess the safety and benefits of processes they may not fully understand against their potential drawbacks. the program thus ultimately aims to foster a deeper understanding of the science, enabling the public, policymakers and regulators to balance benefits and costs in an informed way.

• John Pannell