A Review of New Plant Breeding Techniques (NBTs) from the Viewpoint of Regulation

This book gives a bird’s eye view of how local and international legislation and regulations affect the processes from the development to delivery of new plant breeding techniques (NBTs) and their products.  

The review starts by discussing the eight state-of-the-art NBTs: (1) site-directed nucleases (SDNs), (2) oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis  (ODM),  (3) cisgenesis and intragenesis, (4) RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM), (5) grafting with genetically modified (GM) material, (6) reverse breeding, (7) agroinfiltration, and (8) synthetic genomics. Each technique was assessed on its tendency to produce novel combination genetic materials in their final products, and how such novel combinations can be detected.  

Furthermore, it maps out the prevailing regulatory framework for NBTs in several countries and a region. These include the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Chile, Colombia, Israel,  Australia, and the European Union. This will help the reader understand the level of regulation for NBTs and their resulting products or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the basis for their respective regimes.   

It then zooms into the regulatory landscape in the Philippines from the country’s Constitution to national legislations, administrative orders, and several local ordinances that support and promote science and technology as well as the safe and responsible use of modern biotechnology. It also provides insights into the research and development capacity of different public institutions and universities in the country in carrying out NBTs research and their ability to regulate the resulting products. 

Lastly, it provides some policy recommendations for developing a regulatory framework for NBTs products and some specific recommendations for consideration by the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines.  

This book is useful because understanding the policy environment on NBTs and their products will help not only the Philippines but also other countries in the region in developing policies that affect both local and international transactions.