It’s Time to Embrace a New Era of Gene-Edited Food

At first, it seemed like a 28 square-meter plot of Arborio rice in Italy was a symbol of changing attitudes toward genetically engineered food. Instead, it’s shown us that the debate is well and truly alive.

Scientists used CRISPR-Cas9, a precision gene-editing technique, to create a variety of risotto rice potentially resistant to Pyricularia oryzae, a pathogenic fungus which leads to rice blast disease. Italy’s first outdoor experiment of the crop was launched in mid-May after rules were loosened to allow such a study, but disaster struck on June 21, when scientists arrived to find most of the plants torn up or mown down.