Cellectis, a biopharmaceutical company, has announced that it hosted the first gene-edited dinner in New York on 20 October 2016.
The dinner took six months to plan and involved extensive food testing. University Professors, doctors, journalists, celebrities and even entrepreneurs were amongst the guests. This meal, which comprised six dishes, included a variety of foods including soya with a high oleic acid content and potatoes obtained thorough genome editing.
Offering tofu and soya burger, soya houmous or even lemon sea-bream, the biopharmaceutical company hosting the dinner used state-of-the-art technology “to develop healthier crops by removing DNA and not adding even the smallest amount of foreign DNA”.
Faced with criticisms, André Choulika, President and Managing Director of Cellectis, pointed out that: “This is not only an important milestone for agro-food and biotechnology industries but also for citizens across the globe who are seeking answers to the health problems plaguing our society. This meal is a good indicator of how genome editing will soon be transforming what we eat in the very near future”.
However, scientific studies have yet to prove the safety of these genetically modified foods (see Vegetables genetically modified with CRISpr – GMOs?).
Business Wire (31/10/2016)