Transparent methods for GMO impact assessment

EC legislation demands animal feeding trials with whole food/feed for the safety testing of GMOs and some stakeholders requested further extended studies while contrastingly the EC policy intends to replace or reduce the number of animal tests for ethical and animal welfare reasons. This demonstrates the need for the evaluation of the added value of extended feeding trials and of alternative test systems.

In the area of toxicity testing of GMOs, GRACE reviewed the literature on animal feeding studies, revealing that biologically relevant effects were broadly not detected. Two 90-day feeding trials with GM maize MON810 were carried out in 2013 and the results do not proof biologically relevant effects (published in 2014).

Researchers also tested in vitro cell culture systems that could replace live animals for toxicology and allergy testing. In addition, ~omics approaches analysing plant and animal tissues were investigated.

Evaluation of potential impacts of a GMO is often difficult because the pool of evidence is not readily accessible to decision makers and other stakeholders. GRACE adopted the methodology of “Evidence Synthesis” for reviewing studies on the impact of GM crops on health, socio-economy and environment. It supports the comprehensive presentation of evidence on GMO impacts in a transparent and accessible (evaluation) format. A set of protocols for 14 prioritized topics for evidence maps and systematic reviews were prepared.

The database (CADIMA) established by GRACE serves as a hub that provides open access to the primary data generated in this and cooperating projects. It will offer tools and formats to perform systematic reviews, and it links with further databases on GMO safety.

The EU-funded project 'GMO risk assessment and communication of evidence' (GRACE) uniquely established stakeholder dialogues during planning of research and interpretation of its results. The stakeholder dialogue and the services provided through CADIMA will help stakeholders to engage with GMO research and to access and understand its results.