While some richer nations dither over how to deal [with biotech farming innovations], scientists in lower and middle income countries are seizing the opportunity to give agriculture a targeted genomic reboot. “It is a great testament to their ingenuity, combined with the acceptance that something needs to be done quickly, that these early developers of gene-editing are not in the resource-rich [global] north,” says Johnathan Napier, a plant biotechnologist at the UK-based agricultural institution Rothamsted Research. In a world where food security can never be taken for granted, that sense of urgency needs to spread.

EU ministers recognise that treating all genetic technology in the same restrictive way is outdated and voted earlier this month to change the rules, but green-lighting PBOs faces opposition from consumer and environmental advocacy groups, as well as the organic food lobby. All 27 member states would need to approve a wide-ranging reset covering research, field trials, patents and food labelling — a tall order.

Refining and expanding this technology seems a sensible insurance policy in uncertain times. Even in well-fed Europe, economists talk about heatflation, the spectre of rising food prices as heatwaves and drought dent supply, increase spoilage and reduce nutritional value.

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