Imagine trying to find a tiny typo in a massive book, but the typo is so small it looks like a natural mistake. This project creates high-tech magnifying glasses and digital checklists to spot these tiny genetic changes in food. It also builds a digital paper trail so companies know exactly where their ingredients came from, even if the lab tests are tricky.
Current GMO tests cannot detect New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) because they lack the typical genetic markers. This creates a legal and commercial vacuum where gene-edited food cannot be reliably traced or verified.
A suite of PCR and sequencing detection methods, machine learning screening databases, and a set of non-technical traceability strategies.
If you are a supply chain operator dealing with the risk of mixing gene-edited products with conventional ones — this project developed non-technical identity preservation strategies that ensure authenticity. This helps avoid costly shipment rejections due to regulatory non-compliance.
If you are a private laboratory dealing with the inability to detect NGTs using standard GMO tests — this project developed sequencing-based and machine learning screening tools. This allows you to offer new, high-demand verification services to food producers.
If you are a breeding company dealing with fragmented regulations that block market entry — this project developed an economic analysis of how different rules affect prices and productivity. This provides the data needed to plan market entry for new crop varieties.
Based on available project data, economic simulations show that NGTs can improve productivity and sustainability, but fragmented regulations can act as a barrier to these benefits.
The project is validating its PCR and sequencing approaches within national enforcement laboratories to ensure they work in real-world regulatory settings.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not mentioned, but the project involves 20 partners including 4 SMEs and 4 industry players.
The project assesses current regulatory shortcomings and provides recommendations for adapting legal frameworks to better handle NGT traceability.
The project period runs from 2024-01-01 to 2027-12-31, suggesting that fully validated tools will emerge toward the end of 2027.
The consortium is well-balanced for commercial translation, featuring a 20% industry ratio with 4 industry partners and 4 SMEs. With 20 partners across 10 countries, the project combines academic research from 6 universities and 7 research institutes with practical application, ensuring the tools are tested across different European regulatory environments.
Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet
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