Socioeconomic impact of low-gluten celiac-safe wheat developed by gene editing

Advances in biotechnology over the last decades have led to the development of new genomic techniques (NGTs). In 2021, the “Study on the status of new genomic techniques under Union law and in light of the Court of Justice ruling in Case C-528/16” was published as requested by the Council of the European Union (Council Decision (EU) 2019/1904). The study defined NGTs as techniques which are able to alter the genetic material of an organism and which have been developed after the adoption of the current EU legislation on genetically modified organisms (EU Directive 2001/18/EC). In addition last year, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission published two reports on the technological state-of-the-art and on current and future market applications of NGTs (Broothaerts et al., 2021; C. Parisi & Rodriguez-Cerezo, 2021). This report presents the case study of a product developed with a NGT - CRISPR/Cas targeted mutations – namely the low-gluten celiac-safe wheat. Here, a detailed description of the gene-edited low-gluten celiac-safe wheat products currently under development in the EU is provided. Furthermore, we illustrate the potential contribution this product would make to ensure food security, nutrition and public health if it were approved for cultivation and marketing in the EU. This report is drafted to support the impact assessment accompanying the Commission proposal on Legislation for plants produced by certain new genomic techniques.