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Dupont Develops Corn Using New CRISPR Technology

liz west, flickr Creative Commons

A new genetically engineered corn variety developed by one of the world’s largest seed companies won’t undergo the same review by regulators as other GMO crops.

Researchers for DuPont Pioneer used a new technology called CRISPR-Cas to edit the genes of a waxy corn, which is used in processed foods and adhesives.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the variety is exempt for normal regulation, essentially because the technology edits the corn’s own genome, it doesn’t add genes from other plants.

“Our view is that plant varieties developed through these latest breeding methods shouldn’t be differentially regulated if they’re similar or indistinguishable from varieties that could have been produced through earlier breeding methods ” says DuPoint Pioneer's Neal Gutterson.

Dupont Pioneer expects the corn to be available to farmers within the next five years.

Kristofor Husted is a senior reporter at KBIA in Columbia, Mo. Previously Husted reported for NPR’s Science Desk in Washington and Harvest Public Media. Husted was a 2013 fellow with the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources and a 2015 fellow for the Institute for Journalism and Justice. He’s won regional and national Edward R. Murrow, PRNDI and Sigma Delta Chi awards. Husted also is an instructor at the Missouri School of Journalism. He received a B.S. in cell biology from UC Davis and an M.S. in journalism from Northwestern University.