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Molecular agriculture is an idea as old as transgenesis. Attempts to have tobacco, rice, or corn produce therapeutic molecules have been made many times, but the results have been few and inconclusive. A French startup, Plantibodies, is proposing a new approach: instead of extracting the target molecule from the plant, the idea is to grind the spinach leaves that contain it into a powder.

Since 2022, the German seed company KWS has been developing a range of patent licences covering “native traits”. Presented as a means of “promoting innovation in plant breeding”, this strategy illustrates how patents can be used to control the use of these “native traits”, even though they are already present in biodiversity. This approach by the German seed company, which is also known for its aggressive policy of defending its intellectual property, also highlights the current limitations of European patent law.

For over a decade, European institutions have sought to prevent the patenting of plants and traits obtained exclusively through essentially biological processes. However, patents relating to “native traits” continue to indirectly cover these traits through claims relating to associated technical features. The recent deregulation of GMOs/NGTs raises concerns about the risk of these patents extending to plants derived from traditional breeding and propagation – which are not patentable – and which therefore naturally contain such “native traits”.

Touted as precise, simple and inexpensive, CRISPR/Cas is the flagship tool underpinning the promises made by GMOs derived from new genetic modification techniques (NGTs). Already at the centre of several controversies, CRISPR/Cas is once again making headlines. This time, it concerns the discovery of a new type of harmful effect.

In December 2025, the European Commission proposed a set of measures to amend the regulations governing food and animal consumption, compiled in a document entitled “Omnibus X”. This document notably proposed the creation of a new legal category: “biocontrol substances”, described as an alternative to chemical pesticides, whose development and marketing the European Commission aims to promote. However, on June 12, the Council of the EU noted the lack of a qualified majority for this text.

On Tuesday 16 June 2026, the Council of the European Union achieved a qualified majority to enter into negotiations with the European Parliament on a draft directive that would allow the release of genetically modified micro-organisms into the environment under less stringent regulatory conditions. France has declared its support for this draft directive. This decision endorses the European Commission’s proposal of 16 December 2025 as part of the “Biotech Acts”. These latter aim to simplify regulations for the benefit of businesses.

On Wednesday 17 June 2026, MEPs adopted the compromise text deregulating GMOs produced using new genetic modification techniques (GMO/NGT). This text, which is identical to that adopted by the Council of the EU on 21 April 2026, means that GMO/NGT will be able to be placed on the market in the EU without authorisation, without risk assessment, without labelling (except on seed lots) and without the publication of methods for detecting and identifying them. It will come into force in 2028.

In April 2026, Jacquet, a subsidiary of Limagrain, withdrew wraps from the French market: they contained genetically modified flax not commercially authorized. While no genetically modified flax varieties are currently officially cultivated worldwide, Canada authorized the cultivation of one variety in 1996 before withdrawing the authorization in 2001. This country has also recently ended its mandatory flax export monitoring program.

In July 2023, alongside its proposal to deregulate new genetic modification techniques (NGTs), the European Commission promised an assessment of the impact of patents on plant breeding. The report, produced by Technopolis and published in December 2025, highlights several problems related to patents. These problems will not be resolved by the non-binding measures adopted by the Council of the European Union in April 2026. Do the European authorities really only listen to the voice of industry, even if it means ignoring the reports they commission?