Sunday Evening News 476 / 2026
Weekly report on genetic engineering, genome editing, biotechnology and legal regulation.
May 2026-05-25 - 2026-05-31 Week 22 -2026
Meetings – Conferences / Treffen - Veranstaltungen
DLG-Feldtage 2026: Infos und Tipps zum Festival des Pflanzenbaus
Vom 16. bis 18. Juni 2026 finden die DLG-Feldtage in Bernburg in Sachsen-Anhalt statt.
Stakeholder Dialog: Wie weiter mit der modernen Pflanzenzucht?
Dienstag, den 23. Juni, von 12:30 bis 14:30 Uhr, Reinhardtstraßen-Höfe (Reinhardtstr. 12-16, 10117 Berlin)
Teilnahme in Person oder online
Future ETP (Plant ETP) is organising a Workshop on EU Secondary Legislation for New Genomic Techniques (NGTs),
1 July 2026, COMET Stephanie - Place Stéphanie 20, 1050 Brussels, 10:00 – 16:00
(sobald ich weitere Informationen habe, werde ich Sie unterrichten; As soon as I have more information, I will let you know)
Press Releases - Media / Presse- und Medienberichte
Informationsdienst Gentechnik: Neue Gentechnik: Wird EU-Parlament Schaden begrenzen?
https://www.keine-gentechnik.de/nachricht/verordnung-zur-neuen-gentechnik-der-countdown-laeuft
Glauber: Neue Gentechnik braucht klare Regeln, Transparenz und Wahlfreiheit für Verbraucher - Pressemitteilung Nr. 60/26
https://www.stmuv.bayern.de/aktuell/presse/detailansicht.htm?ID=A%2Bs3RgSTi2RIvJssf6hxOA%3D%3D
Anwendung der Neuen Genomischen Techniken Interview mit Robert Hoffie
EU lockert Gentechnik-Regeln: Was Verbraucher künftig noch erkennen - und was nicht
Gentechnik durch die Hintertür: Brüssel kippt die Kennzeichnungspflicht – und der Verbraucher schaut in die Röhre
VLOG: Nachweisverfahren: „Neue Gentechnik“-Pflanzen können gezielt eindeutig identifiziert werden
SAG: Kampagne «Keine EU-Gentechnik in unseren Tellern!»
https://gentechfrei.ch/spenden/kampagne-keine-eu-gentechnik-in-unseren-tellern/
Boylan & Funchion: EU proposals on genetically modified crops will harm food safety for all https://sinnfein.ie/news/eu-proposals-on-genetically-modified-crops-will-harm-food-safety-for-all-boylan-funchion/
Dionglay C.: Precaution vs. Progress: The Final Countdown for Europe’s NGT Proposal
https://www.isaaa.org/blog/entry/default.asp?BlogDate=5/28/2026
Opinion 11/2026 on the Proposal for a Directive amending Directives 2001/18/EC and 2010/53/EU as regards the placing on the market of genetically modified micro-organisms and the processing of organs
OECD: BioTrack Product Database
https://www.oecd.org/en/data/tools/biotrack-product-database.html
China Reviews Genetically Modified Crops for Approval
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-22/2026
Publications – Publikationen
Matthies, A., Leggewie, G., Metje-Sprink, J. et al. (2026): Newly proposed rules for NGT plants attempt to balance
equivalence, sustainability, and science-based risk-assessment. J Consum Prot Food Saf | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-026-01616-5
In July 2023, the European Commission presented a draft regulation on plants obtained by certain New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). Following initial intra- and subsequent inter-institutional negotiations, the Council, Parliament and Commission agreed on a final draft version in December 2025 as part of the usual legislative procedure. It sets out rules for the categorisation and regulation of NGT plants. Here, we summarise the key points of the regulatory proposal and provide a critical analysis on the conflicting combination of two divergent sets of categorisation criteria. In this article potential challenges of the current regulatory proposal and its implementation are highlighted.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00003-026-01616-5
Groover, E.D., Wang, F.Z., John, A. et al. (2026): Genome engineering of plant photosynthesis for carbon sequestration.
Nat Rev Bioeng | https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-026-00453-3
Anthropogenic carbon emissions have destabilized Earth’s carbon cycle, triggering cascading effects on climate and biodiversity. Plant-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) presents a scalable, economically viable path to atmospheric carbon sequestration through soil carbon deposition, dedicated biomass cultivation and strategic agroforestry. Although photosynthesis drives terrestrial carbon capture, effective CDR strategies demand genetic optimization of carbon assimilation, retention and storage. The regulatory landscape is restrictive towards transgenic crops yet permissive of genome editing, creating a window for intervention. Advances in CRISPR-based editing, computational plant trait prediction and delivery systems for gene-editing tools in planta enable precision engineering of plant phenotypes to increase photosynthetic efficiency and carbon sequestration capacity. In this Review, we map the molecular and physiological innovations required to realize plant-based CDR at climate-relevant scales. Beyond optimizing carbon capture itself, we examine strategies to engineer enhanced biomass accumulation, improve nitrogen and water use efficiency, and stabilize carbon storage in plant and soil systems. We further assess the opportunities, implementation challenges and the potential of deploying genome-edited crops as a cornerstone of global carbon management.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44222-026-00453-3
Edger P.P., Body M.J.A., De Donno S., +2 , and Jiang J. (2026): Genome evolution through polyploidy: Enhancing plant stress
resilience in agriculture PNAS 123 (22) e2522064123 | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2522064123
Polyploidy, also known as whole genome duplication, is a major evolutionary force in plants, driving diversification and the generation of novel phenotypic variation, including superior abiotic and biotic stress tolerance. The enhanced stress resilience observed in certain polyploids is hypothesized to arise from dynamic epigenetic and genetic changes, including variations in gene content and cis-regulatory elements (CREs), that emerge following polyploidization. These changes directly impact various regulatory, signaling, and metabolic pathways associated with stress response and adaptation. Within polyploid populations, processes like gene duplications, fractionation, and homoeologous exchanges actively shape novel gene content variation, while, simultaneously, alterations in CREs (DNA sequences controlling gene expression) lead to diverse regulatory patterns. This dynamic interplay between changes in gene content and regulation further contributes to expanded phenotypic variation, including enhanced stress resilience. We discuss how advanced genomic and epigenomic techniques, such as pangenomics and single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing, are used to uncover these variations and outline new bioinformatic approaches to reveal the underlying genetics of stress resilience and adaptation. Finally, we summarize what remains poorly understood to guide future research, with the goal of unlocking the full potential for enhancing resilience in polyploid crops.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2522064123
Alhabsi, A., Ayala, F.M., Pan, J., Wang, Y.L., Mourad, A.M.I., Dracatos, P., Wulff, B.B.H. and Alagoz, Y. (2026): Potential unlocked:
an atlas of cloned wheat genes for genome engineering and breeding. New Phytol. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71305
Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) production is increasingly threatened by biotic and abiotic stresses. Developing varieties with improved stress tolerance and desirable end-use qualities is crucial for meeting growing global demand. Genome-editing technologies, particularly Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR/Cas)-derived systems, represent powerful tools to accelerate trait discovery and crop improvement. Here, we present a comprehensive atlas of cloned wheat genes and discuss examples and strategies for using it to identify candidate targets for CRISPR/Cas-mediated improvement. Finally, we recommend ways to integrate gene editing into breeding timelines and accelerate the incorporation of desirable alleles.
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.71305
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nph.71305
Gobika, S.J., Nathan, B., Samykannu, G. et al. (2026): Harnessing genomics and transcriptomics to explore the genetic and
molecular basis of abiotic stress tolerance in minor millets – a comprehensive review. Funct Integr Genomics 26, 117 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-026-01903-2
Minor millets represent a promising avenue for addressing food security challenges through their unique C4 photosynthetic pathway and inherent resilience to harsh environmental conditions. These crops exhibit exceptional adaptation to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and nutrient-poor soils, while simultaneously offering substantial nutritional benefits, including high levels of iron, zinc, dietary fiber, and bioactive compounds. Recent advancements in high-throughput sequencing have revolutionized our understanding of stress tolerance mechanisms in these underutilized crops. This review comprehensively synthesizes current molecular resources, focusing on more than 35 critical gene families associated with stress regulation. By critically examining genomic and transcriptomic landscapes, we illuminate the complex regulatory networks and differentially expressed genes that underpin abiotic stress adaptation in minor millets. This review presents a detailed molecular characterization of stress response mechanisms and also explores the transformative potential of these insights for agricultural innovation. We demonstrate the integration of advanced molecular understanding for strategically improving breeding programs, marker-assisted selection, and potential genetic engineering approaches. The ultimate goal is to develop climate-resilient cultivars that can enhance global food security and sustainable agricultural practices in an era of increasing environmental uncertainty. Our comprehensive analysis highlights the critical role of minor millets as a sustainable solution to malnutrition and agricultural challenges, positioning these remarkable grains at the forefront of adaptive crop research.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10142-026-01903-2
Banerjee, S., Dasgupta, D. & van der Heijden, M.G.A. (2026): Agricultural intensification, microbial homogenization and loss
of rare microbiota. Nat Rev Microbiol | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-026-01315-w
To meet the needs of a growing human population, agricultural management practices have undergone substantial intensification, specialization and industrialization. This has contributed to biotic homogenization and a loss of diversity in microbial communities within agricultural systems. In this Perspective, we summarize recent studies that report microbial homogenization due to agricultural intensification. We propose a definition of microbial homogenization and explore how intensive agricultural practices can cause taxonomic, physiological, genetic and functional homogenization of microbial communities. Our analysis indicates that globally the diversity of rare taxa is lower in intensively managed agricultural lands compared with less-intensive lands and that agricultural intensification suppresses beneficial microorganisms and promotes pathogenic taxa. We identify microbial taxa that are sensitive to intensification and discuss how the disproportionate impact on rare microbiota can threaten agro-ecosystem functions and food security. Finally, we outline key challenges and suggest areas that require further research.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-026-01315-w
CRISPRi screening reveals essential fungal vulnerabilities. Nat Microbiol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02383-7
We developed a scalable pooled CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) platform for the prominent fungal pathogen Candida albicans, enabling portable, high-throughput functional genomic analysis of essential genes across diverse environmental conditions and strain backgrounds. This approach identified conserved fungus-specific vulnerabilities that may help to prioritize promising targets for antifungal drug discovery.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-026-02383-7
Flores A.I., Morales-Cedeño L.R., Loeza-Lara P.D., Schoebitz M. et al. (2026): Engineering Plant-Associated Microorganisms for
Bioremediation and Sustainable Agriculture. Microorganisms 14(6), 1203; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14061203
As food demand increases, agricultural practices have evolved, prompting increased exploration of sustainable ecological techniques and utilization of plant-associated microorganisms. In this context, plant fitness has been enhanced by plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM), which stimulate growth through direct mechanisms, such as improved nutrient availability and phytohormone production, as well as indirect mechanisms, including protection against phytopathogens and suppression of soil-borne diseases. However, these innate capabilities of PGPM can be further improved through genomic modification or editing. This article reviews advances in the genomic engineering of plant-beneficial microorganisms as tools to enhance their positive effects on crop performance and environmental remediation. The genetic modification strategies analyzed here include random mutagenesis, targeted genome editing (such as CRISPR-Cas), gene over-expression, genome shuffling, RNA interference, metabolic pathway engineering, and synthetic biology approaches. These tools have enabled the optimization of functions, such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, secondary metabolite production, biocontrol, stress tolerance, and bioremediation. However, we propose expanding the discussion of their regulation and use in various countries. Additionally, these modifications must be efficient and safe for the beneficial microbiota associated with the target crop, as well as for humans, animals, and the environment, all of which depend on sustainable agricultural practices.
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/14/6/1203
Zhyr L., Furch A.C.U., Axel Mithöfer (2026): Beneficial microbes in agriculture: curse or blessing? Trends in Plant Science 31
(5), 566-575 | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2025.08.016
In modern agriculture, microbial inoculants isolated and collected from all over the world have gained popularity as a means of reducing the amount of fertilizer by increasing the availability of nutrients and mitigating environmental stress that is often connected with climate change. Concerning biocontrol, microbial inoculants are known to be effective in integrated pest management. However, the introduction of alien microbes can lead to the emergence of antagonists of the natural soil microbiota, which might drastically change the latter and ultimately have a negative impact on the whole natural soil ecosystem, causing unforeseeable consequences. We will discuss various aspects of the employment of microbial inoculants in agriculture, with a focus on the largely neglected threat posed by potentially invasive microbes.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1360138525002560
Wadhwa N., Ghorai S.M., Bajaj D., Singh S. et al. (2026): Evolution and advancements of techniques in generating transgenic
animals: From random integration to targeted precision. Next Research 7, 101470 | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nexres.2026.101470
Using genetically modified mouse models has dramatically enhanced our knowledge of gene function and disease pathophysiology. Pronuclear microinjection and embryonic stem cell-mediated gene transfer are considered conventional methods for generating transgenic animals. However, technological advancements and refinements in the techniques led to the generation of more specific transgenic mouse models. Researchers now have the molecular tools to create more precise and specific genetic alterations in the genomes of mouse models. These novel technologies address some of the limitations of earlier methodologies pertaining to specificity, reproducibility, and efficiency. These techniques are accessible, time-saving, and cost-effective. For instance, the Cre-loxP, FLP-FRT, and Dre recombinases are recognized as improved techniques due to their ability to spatiotemporally inactivate or activate gene expression in vivo. Genome editing nucleases, including Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs), Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs), and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), cleave specific genomic sequences with remarkable precision. These tools have profoundly transformed transgenesis and accelerated the development of more efficient and targeted transgenic models. The tools, techniques, and methodologies used to generate transgenic mouse models have advanced over the years. This comprehensive review traces the evolution of transgenic animal technology from traditional methods based on random gene integration to the advent of targeted and precise genome engineering. It highlights the key features of each technique, along with a list of shortcomings that led to the advancement of earlier methods, aiming to improve specificity, efficiency, and reproducibility. It highlights both conventional and contemporary approaches used to date for generating transgenic animal models that tackle complex biological questions and elucidate complex pathways.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S3050475926001673
Song, S., Chen, P., Shen, X. et al. (2025): Adaptive tracking with antagonistic pleiotropy results in seemingly neutral
molecular evolution. Nat Ecol Evol 9, 2358–2373 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02887-1
The neutral theory of molecular evolution, positing that most amino acid substitutions in protein evolution are neutral, is supported by vast comparative genomic data. However, here we report that the key premise of the theory—beneficial mutations are extremely scarce—is violated. Deep mutational scanning data from 12,267 amino acid-altering mutations in 24 prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes reveal that > 1% of these mutations are beneficial, predicting that > 99% of amino acid substitutions would be adaptive. This observation demands a new theory that is compatible with both the high beneficial mutation rate and the comparative genomic data considered consistent with the neutral theory. We propose such a theory named adaptive tracking with antagonistic pleiotropy. In this theory, virtually all beneficial mutations observed are environment specific. Frequent environmental changes and mutational antagonistic pleiotropy across environments render most of the beneficial mutations seen at one time deleterious soon after and hence rarely fixed. Consequently, despite the occurrence of adaptive tracking—continuous adaptation to a changing environment fuelled by beneficial mutations—neutral substitutions prevail. We show that this theory is supported by population genetics simulation, empirical observations and experimental evolution and has implications for the adaptedness of natural populations and the tempo and mode of evolution.