Profile of genetically modified plants authorized in Mexico

Abstract

Mexico is a center of origin for several economically important plants including maize, cotton, and cocoa. Maize represents more than a food crop, has been declared a biological, cultural, agricultural and economic patrimony, and is linked to the national identity of Mexicans. In this review, we describe the historic and current use of genetically modified plants in Mexico and factors that contributed to the development of the biosafety regulation. We developed a database containing all permit applications received by the government to release genetically modified plants. A temporal and geographical analysis identified the plant species that have been authorized for experimental purposes, pilot programs, or commercial production, the geographic areas where they have been released, and the traits that have been introduced. Results show that Mexico has faced a dual challenge: accepting the benefits of genetically modified plants and their products, while protecting native plant biodiversity.

Herbicide Resistance: Another Hot Agronomic Trait for Plant Genome Editing

“…Moreover, the societal concern about the genome editing is, in part, due to a lack of knowledge of its applications and principles. The primary feature here is the difference between genome-edited, genetically modified, and transgenic plants [ 158 , 159 ], and the plants produced through genome editing may or may not be transgenic. Therefore, currently, the public education about genome editing principles and the knowledge of its differences from older breeding techniques is necessary for correcting and preventing the spread of suspicion and misconception [ 158 , 160 ].…”

CRISPR-Cas-Led Revolution in Diagnosis and Management of Emerging Plant Viruses: New Avenues Toward Food and Nutritional Security

“…The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety created the regulation norms for international trading in living genetically modified organisms (LMOs). However, there are some differing viewpoints on the production, consumption, and regulation of CRISPR-edited plants that have been taken by several countries ( 224 ). Essentially, two frameworks are being followed by many nations to regulate CRISPR-edited plants, i.e., (i) regulation of the procedure to generate genome-edited plants and (ii) regulation based on final product attributes ( 225 , 226 ) ( Figure 4 ).…”

Principles, Applications, and Biosafety of Plant Genome Editing Using CRISPR-Cas9

“…In all cases, sequencing the target gene is required in order to identify the mutations introduced by genome editing. The presence of the CRISPR-Cas9 cassette renders the plants transgenic and thus subject to the corresponding biosafety regulations (Callaway, 2018;Garcia Ruiz et al, 2018;Eckerstorfer et al, 2019). However, in sexually propagated plants, after identification of the genome edited plants, the CRISPR-Cas9 transgene can be eliminated by Mendelian segregation (Figures 2D-E) (Zhang et al, 2019a).…”

“…If this is done, a genome-edited plant might be classified as non-transgenic. Educating the public on the principles of genome editing has the potential to correct and prevent the spread of misconceptions (Garcia Ruiz et al, 2018;Eckerstorfer et al, 2019).…”