Scientists at Scotland’s leading crop research centre, SCRI at Invergowrie, have won a share of a £400,000 project to research techniques relevant for the safety assessment of GMOs.

Working with a team at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, the scientists will research improved and more rapid methods for determining whether plant genes may be 'disrupted' by the genetic modification process and if entirely new proteins might arise from the GM process.

The methods will also help in the development of diagnostic tools for GM plants. It will enable scientists to trace GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) in the food chain as part of Europe’s regulatory regime. The funding has come from the Food Standards Agency and builds upon significant funding already obtained by the SCRI for GMO safety assessments.

Leading the work at SCRI will be Dr Mark Taylor and Professor Howard Davies who are both part of the organisation’s programme studying food quality, health and nutrition.

Dr Mark Taylor said: “Methods for producing GM plants are continually being improved. For example, research is continuing which will help us control where in the plant's DNA the transgenes can be inserted. This could help to minimise any potential unintended effects. Similarly, the validation of methods to read the host plant’s genetic code on either side of region where transgenes are actually inserted will help us assess likely adverse effects of the insertion process”.

SCRI’s Professor Howard Davies, who is a member of the European Food Safety Authority GMO Panel said: “Europe has a rigorous system for the risk assessment of GMOs. An important starting point in the process is the molecular characterisation of what happens when transgenes are inserted into the plant’s DNA. However, it is only one component of the risk assessment process which is outlined in guidelines published by the European Food Safety Authority. Weight of evidence from a range of analyses helps to inform decisions on safety”.

GM crop trials of potatoes with genes to produce resistance to late blight control were recently authorised to take place in England. Late blight caused the Irish potato famine in 1845. Currently, as far as we are aware, there are no plans for GM trials in Scotland.