Ministers are preparing to introduce legislation [permitting] the growing of gene-edited crops in England and Wales. [However,] the new legislation will not cover the use of this technology to create farm animals [with] increased resistance to disease or lower carbon footprints.

The farming minister, Daniel Zeichner, has since announced the current government would pass that … legislation, but only for plants and the food and feed derived from them. “No decision has been taken on bringing forward legislation that enables the Precision Breeding Act for animals,” a spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said….

Scientists working on diseases in animals were critical of this inaction. “This could have a detrimental impact on the research landscape in this country,” said Prof John Hammond, director of research at the Pirbright Institute, near Woking. “In an age of climate change and other threats, we need to be able to make the best use of technologies like gene-editing to improve the lives of animals.”

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