Gene-edited plants on the plate: the 'CRISPR cabbage story'

The European Union (EU) has very strict regulations for genetically modified plants, but gene editing challenges the basis of the legislation. Genome editied plants with no foreign DNA added were according to the Swedish competent authority Jordbruksverket falling outside of the EU definition of genetically modified plants, and should hence not be regulated. This article describes the background to this interpretation and also how plants gene edited using CRISPR-Cas9 (a Brassica deletion mutant) for the first (?) time were grown in a garden, cooked and eaten, and the subsequent media attention. Furthermore, it also adresses the troubles authorities in other European countries have to handle these plants.