Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 12/18/17

It's a golden moment for crop breeders who regard the Trump administration as their best shot in 30 years to update the rules governing the approval of genetically modified crops, Pro Ag's Jenny Hopkinson reports. 

The upside: Biotech proponents call the rules out of date, arguing that changing them could make it easier for researchers to come up with healthier and more sustainable crops. That means growing more flavorful tomatoes, heat-resistant lettuce and gluten-free wheat. "If we can't get it out of this Trump administration, we can't get it out of anybody," said Harry Klee, a professor at the University of Florida's Institute for Food and Agriculture Sciences and the president of the American Society of Plant Biologists.

Boon for universities: Bill McCutchen, executive associate director for Texas A&M Agrilife Research says the latest gene-editing technologies shouldn't require the same type of regulatory oversight that has been used in the past on other types of biotech crops. The technologies are also cheaper, making them more accessible to university researchers and smaller companies. 

Previously, biotech crops used agrobacterium shot from a gene gun to introduce the desired trait into a crop, which pulled in unknown genes from other plants and organisms to make the changes. Therefore, the regulations used to focus on whether a plant posed a risk to another plant. But now the foreign genes are known and gene editing is much more targeted.

Crop developers can cut unwanted genes - such as those that convey susceptibility to disease, browning or other undesirable traits. They can also insert a gene from another variety of the same species, without adding agrobacterium or anything else to the plant. In fact, many gene edits could be obtained done by cross breeding, although at a much slower pace.

State of play today: Genetically engineered crops undergo a regulatory process that takes years, even for changes that might have happened in nature and pose no known risks to consumer health or other crops. It takes 11 years, on average, and about $136 million to get government sign off for a GE plant, according to a 2011 CropLife International study - far too expensive for any but the biggest players.

Consumers say "not so fast": Many consumers and environmental groups are still leery of any type of genetic modifications to foods. Some seek strict regulation of even the smallest changes to ensure that Americans know what they are eating. Trading partners like China and the European Union are more hesitant to accept these crops. The Obama administration twice tried to tackle these issues, but with little success.