CRISPR/Cas9

New tools of genome editing such as CRISPR/Cas9, TALENs and ZFNs have made genetic modification more precise and with potentially less unintended effects than conventional genetic modification that is based on classical recombinant DNA technology. The CRISPR/Cas systems, especially CRISPR/Cas9, are the most widely used genome editing tools and involve a guide RNA associated with an endonuclease which makes strand breaks at specific points on the DNA dictated by the sequence of the guide RNA. Whether the break is repaired with or without a template, as well as the length of the template, may determine how the resulting gene-edited product is regulated. This is determining the approach adopted by many countries for regulation of genome-edited agricultural products. For example, Argentina has drawn up new regulations for genome-edited agricultural products, the EU and Australia are adopting or revising existing process-triggered GM regulations, and the United States and Canada are applying existing product-triggered regulations. It is suggested that Nigeria reviews its process-triggered GM regulations to make its stringency dependent on the nature of the final genome-edited product.