Important for NGT-regulation: The vote in the European Parliament on the NGT compromise proposal is scheduled for June 16, 2026

ISAAA: Plant Biotechnology Associations Urge EU Parliament to Reject NGT Amendments

Four prominent European plant biotechnology associations have issued a joint open letter urging members of the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI) to swiftly pass a pending compromise regulation on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). The letter, dated May 15, 2026, was signed by the French Association of Plant Biotechnologies (AFBV), Forum Grüne Vernunft (FGV), the Society for Plant Biotechnology (GfPB), and the Genomics and Genetic Engineering Research Circle (WGG). The coalition argues that a "green light" is desperately needed to counter accelerating global competition. In the letter, the coalition argues that a "green light" is desperately needed to counter accelerating global competition, noting that more than 50% of peer-reviewed NGT research currently originates from China, compared to just 15% from the European Union. 

https://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=21829

but also here: https://www.wggev.de/offener-brief-an-envi-ausschuss-abstimmung-ngt-vorschlag/ (Gedrman, English, French)

Meetings – Conferences / Treffen - Veranstaltungen

Ringvorlesung „Demokratie trifft Medizin“

Audimax der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Universitätsplatz 1, 06108 Halle/Saale Beginn: 04. Juni 2026 , 18:00 Uhr Ende: 20:00 Uhr

https://www.umh.de/veranstaltungen/2026-06-04_1800/ringvorlesung-demokratie-trifft-medizin

Press Releases - Media / Presse- und Medienberichte

„Die Politik braucht die Beratung der Wissenden“

https://www.leopoldina.org/newsroom/nachrichten/detail/die-politik-braucht-die-beratung-der-wissenden

BMLEH: Wissenschaftlicher Beirat für Agrarpolitik, Ernährung und gesundheitlichen Verbraucherschutz startet in neue

Berufungsperiode

https://www.bmleh.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2026/045-wbae.html

Brot für die Welt: Was der Agro-Industrie nützt, schadet den Menschen

https://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/themen/gruene-gentechnik/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=14960654837&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItZbxipbIlAMV3JCDBx1dnQo8EAMYASAAEgKVxPD_BwE

„New GMOs Market Report“: Ankündigungen und Markrealität liegen weit auseinander bei Neuer Gentechnik

https://www.ohnegentechnik.org/artikel/new-gmos-market-report-ankuendigungen-und-markrealitaet-liegen-weit-auseinander-bei-neuer-gentechnik

Gelinsky E.: New GMOs Market Report 2026: Which crops are present in different markets and in development pipelines?

https://www.ohnegentechnik.org/fileadmin/user_upload/07_news/New_GMOs_Market_Report_2026_-_Presentation_Eva_Gelinsky_Non-GMO_Summit_2026.pdf

New report highlights gap between New GMO hype and global market reality

https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20260521sf65599/new-report-highlights-gap-between-new-gmo-hype-and-global-market-reality

 The report: https://www.enga.org/fileadmin/user_upload/New_GMOs_market-report-2026.pdf

EPSO open letter to MEPs urging them to adopt the trilogue provisional agreement on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs)

https://epsoweb.org/wg-agricultural-technologies/epso-open-letter-to-meps-urging-them-to-adopt-the-trilogue-provisional-agreement-on-new-genomic-techniques-ngts/2026/05/22/

The letter: https://epsoweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/26_05_22_EPSO_Trilogue-provisional-agreement-NGTs_Open-letter-to-MEPs.pdf

MESHAKA D.: German MEPs from the EPP raise concerns over patents

https://infogm.org/en/german-meps-from-the-epp-raise-concerns-over-patents/

GM Watch: Public event in Athens, Greece: Experts warn on EU plans on new GMOs

https://www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20665

Greek agronomists’ association slams EU GMO deregulation plans

https://www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20666

Only some selected press releases or media reports are listed here. The daily up-date of the press releases and

media reports are ►here: May - week-21/2026  

Publications – Publikationen

Raj K., Gaugler V. , Lu M., Schädel M. et al. (2026): Lotus japonicus VIH2 is an inositol pyrophosphate synthase that

regulates arbuscular mycorrhiza., Science Advances | DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aec5607

Plant yield is often maximized by the extensive use of mineral fertilizers, which, however, has severe environmental consequences. Phosphate is particularly problematic as it represents a globally limited resource, and its runoff and soil erosion threaten open water bodies. Many crops engage in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis with nutrient-acquiring fungi, aiding in the uptake of phosphate and other mineral nutrients. However, AM colonization is strongly reduced under high soil phosphate levels. A mechanistic understanding of phosphate sensing, phosphate starvation responses, and their connection to AM remains incomplete. Here, we show that, in Lotus japonicus, low-abundant, energy-rich inositol pyrophosphates act as important regulatory signals of AM, orchestrating the cross-talk between phosphate starvation responses, nutrient acquisition, and plant root endosymbiosis. These findings hold promise for breeding nutrient-efficient crops.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec5607

Ramstein, G.P., Zhai, J., Buckler, E.S. et al. (2026). Translating functional molecular knowledge into crop-breeding success.

Nat Rev Genet | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-026-00968-w

Historical plant breeding, which optimizes phenotypes through selective crossing guided by phenotypic evaluation and molecular markers, is limited by evolutionary constraints that hinder rapid crop improvement. A new paradigm, precision breeding, circumvents these limitations by targeting genetic variants through functional molecular knowledge. To generate this knowledge at scale, sequence-based deep learning leverages high-quality genome sequence data to predict variant effects at base-pair resolution. When linked to agronomically important traits, these predictions enable breeders to prioritize variants for precision selection or editing. Although it is still in the early stages of development, we foresee three key applications for this approach: introgressing genes from distant breeding pools, purging deleterious mutations and designing new plant ideotypes. Looking ahead, refined computational models will facilitate targeted editing and the systematic redesign of complex physiological processes to address emerging breeding goals under shifting environmental conditions.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41576-026-00968-w

Kyung J., Esfahanian M., Mann J., Koke E. et al. (2026): How many genes can CRISPR edit to engineer complex adaptations? |

https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.21.726991;

Polygenic traits require the coordinated effects of multiple genes. Such complex traits have been a long-term target of study for geneticists, but multiplex CRISPR—the editing of multiple loci in the genome via multiple guide RNAs—is in its infancy. Reviewing 106 plant studies using multiplex CRISPR, we find that the multiplexing capacity has doubled every 5.4 years; furthermore, a systematic experiment with 8, 16, and 24 simultaneous targets in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals that efficiency of 24-plex editing can reach up to 73% across over one hundred third-generation transformed plants sequenced. Our experiment revealed that the level of multiplexing, or the number of the targets, causes minor efficiency reduction compared to the other uncontrolled factors such as gRNA design or variation across plants. When we model the decay in editing efficiency as a function of the gRNA number, actual efficiency is higher than the expectation from both Cas9 competition interference and simple joint editing stochasticity models. Rather, efficiency decayed with diminishing interference with more gRNAs with substantial overdispersion attributed to other efficiency factors, such as PAM identity. We predict that editing close to 100 genes in a plant can be feasible with reasonably large plant screens; however, feasible and reliable polygenic genome engineering will necessitate developments outside of [insert novelty of this study in how multiplex CRISPR was implemented, here].

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.21.726991v1.full.pdf

Dennis Normile (2026): A new genetically modified rice could improve children’s health. But will it be grown?

Philippines takes first step toward approving rice with increased iron and zinc. Science

https://www.science.org/content/article/new-genetically-modified-rice-could-improve-children-s-health-will-it-be-grown

EFSA

FEZ Panel (2026): Safety evaluation of the food enzyme containing endo-polygalacturonase and pectinesterase activities from the

non-genetically modified Aspergillus luchuensis strain GSP-4-404. EFSA Journal, 24(5), e10081. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10081

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10081

FEZ Panel (2026): Safety evaluation of the food enzyme containing metalloendopeptidase and leucyl aminopeptidase activities from

the non-genetically modified Aspergillus oryzae strain HBI-POP01. EFSA Journal, 24(5), e10078. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10078

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10078

FEZ Panel (2026): Safety evaluation of the food enzyme amidase from the genetically modified Escherichia coli strain SP-a.

EFSA Journal, 24(5), e10089. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10089

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10089