Proposal would move GMO food animal regulation to USDA

Researchers around the world have been working to genetically modify animals to make them better for food. They've aimed to make them grow faster, have more muscle, resist disease or be devoid of allergens. These sound like great advances, but who's eating these animals? The answer: almost nobody.

At the moment, the process of approving genetically modified animals for food in the U.S. is mostly theoretical. Two have been approved — AquAdvantage salmon in 2015 and GalSafe pork earlier this month. But neither of those are on store shelves or restaurant menus yet. As seafood, AquAdvantage salmon falls under the regulatory purview of FDA, so this new regulation would not have impacted it. GalSafe pork was primarily developed for medical purposes, so the regulatory approval pathway for it might have been the same.

Regardless how few GMO food animals have been approved, regulation here has been a bit of a political football. Days before President Barack Obama left office in 2017, proposed regulations were published that required all animals genetically modified for food to be regulated by FDA with the same scrutinyas new drugs. Scientists had mixed responses to the move. Those who worked in the gene editing field were afraid it would squash interest in new research and progress, while others in the social science field applauded taking a more careful approach to a controversial issue.