Organic agriculture requires process rather than product evaluation of novel breeding techniques

Abstract

In organic agriculture the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is banned. Recently, two
novel breeding techniques have been developed, i.e., cisgenesis and reverse breeding, both of which are
based on gene technology but should raise less moral concerns from the public. Whether the products
of these breeding processes are classified as GMOs depends on the interpretation of the relevant EU
regulations. In cisgenic plants, the genes introduced through genetic modification are from a crossable
donor plant so that the source of the genes is considered to be of the same nature. In reverse breeding,
the recombinant genes, essential to the breeding process, are no longer present in the product resulting
from the entire breeding process, and thus the product as such is not transgenic. Should varieties
obtained through cisgenesis or reverse breeding be allowed in organic agriculture? The answer to this
question depends on whether the product or the process of breeding is taken into account. Assessment
based on the product implies a choice of an ethical approach that only considers the extrinsic consequences
of human action by making a risk-benefit analysis. It neglects so-called intrinsic, ethical arguments
related to the applied technology (the process) itself. The organic movement uses the intrinsic argument
of ‘unnaturalness’ against genetic engineering. We therefore conclude that products of cisgenesis and
reverse breeding should be subject to the current GMO-regulations in organic agriculture and should
thus be banned from organic agriculture.