Opinions
Jürg Vollmer

«Who is afraid of the evil GMOs?»

Jürg Vollmer is editor-in-chief of the magazine «die grüne». He advocates the authorisation of breeding methods such as genome editing. In this way, the advantages of wild and cultivated plants can be combined in a meaningful way.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Content in German

Modernes Genome Editing ist kein Teufelszeug, sondern die logische Fortsetzung der Mutation und Mutagenese in der Pflanzenzucht. Pflanzengenetiker verändern das Erbgut mit der «Genschere» CRISPR/Cas so präzise, dass man auch von «Gen-Chirurgie» spricht. Ohne artenfremdes Genmaterial hinzuzufügen (= transgen-frei).

CRISPR/Cas unterscheidet sich in den Zielen und im Ergebnis nicht von der traditionellen Pflanzenzucht: Sie verändert ein Gen-«Schnipsel» und macht damit Nutzpflanzen ertragreicher und resistenter gegen Krankheitserreger und Schädlinge. Und das ist nötig: Denn die heutigen – auf hohen Ertrag gezüchteten – Nutzpflanzen sind genetisch verarmt.

Mit CRISPR/Cas werden Nutzpflanzen gezüchtet mit den Vorteilen der robusten (und oft auch schmackhafteren) Wildpflanzen und den Vorteilen von Kulturpflanzen, die Schädlingen trotzen, Pestizide einsparen und dabei mehr Ertrag liefern. Es wird Zeit, dass wir unsere Angst vor den «bösen GVO» überwinden und die Chance nutzen, die sie bieten.

Jürg Vollmer ist Chefredaktor der Zeitschrift «Die Grüne». Dieser Beitrag erschien zuerst in der Ausgabe 10/2021.

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President of the Swiss Consumer Forum (KF)

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Hendrik Varnholt

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Olaf Deininger

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Saori Dubourg

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Michelle Miller

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Columnist at Genetic Literacy Project and AGDaily

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Erik Fyrwald

Erik Fyrwald

CEO Syngenta Group

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Jon Parr

Jon Parr

President of Syngenta Crop Protection

«Who is afraid of the evil GMOs?»

Jürg Vollmer

Jürg Vollmer

Editor-in-Chief of «die grüne» magazine

Content in German

«What plant breeding brings us»

Achim Walter

Achim Walter

Professor of Crop Science, ETH Zurich

Content in German

«Research and work place needs impetus»

Jan Lucht

Jan Lucht

Head of Biotechnology at Scienceindustries

Content in German

«Agriculture plays a major role»

Jan Grenz

Jan Grenz

Lecturer in Sustainability, School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL

«Understanding nature’s mechanisms better»

Urs Niggli

Urs Niggli

Agricultural scientist and president of Agroecology Science

«For food security, we need genuine Swiss production»

Jil Schuller

Jil Schuller

Editor «BauernZeitung»

«Lay people completely disregard the dose»

Michael Siegrist

Michael Siegrist

Professor of Consumer Behaviour, ETH Zurich

Content in German

«Is organic really healthier?»

Anna Bozzi

Anna Bozzi

Head of Nutrition and Agriculture at scienceindustries

Content in German

«Genetic engineering and environmental protection go hand in hand»

Dr. Teresa Koller

Dr. Teresa Koller

Researcher at the Institute of Plant and Microbiology at the University of Zurich

«The «Greta» generation will rigorously dispel paradigms.»

Bruno Studer

Bruno Studer

Professor for Molecular Plant Breeding, ETH Zurich

Content in German

«Overcoming the urban-rural divide with constructive agricultural policy»

Jürg Vollmer

Jürg Vollmer

Editor-in-Chief of «die grüne» magazine

Content in German

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Head of Business Sustainability, Syngenta Switzerland

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