New GMOs which are gene edited are being rushed to the market on the claim that they are “natural” on the grounds that the editing of genes cannot be tested.

A new paper published today^[1], 7 September, has obliterated that claim, using a highly sensitive and highly accurate quantitative test for the first commercialised gene edited crop: SU Canola.

This is the first open source detection test for a gene-edited GM crop.

New gene edited GMOs are being introduced to cover up the failure of old GMOs – the failure of Bt cotton to control pests and the failure of Roundup Ready crops to control weeds. Instead, industrial agriculture is now faced with the unmanageable problem of superpests and superweeds.

They are also aimed at creating a new narrative for genetic engineering while maintaining the genetic determinism and genetic reductionism paradigm on which genetic engineering is based. They extend the illusion of mechanistic determinism in the attempt to “engineer” complex, living, self organised systems. They are also an attempt to bypass GMO regulation.