For the first time, barley has been sown in Switzerland that has been genetically engineered using the new CRISPR/Cas method. The commercial cultivation of genetically modified plants is banned in Switzerland, but plants bred through gene editing techniques like CRISPR that do not contain transgenes are not considered genetically modified organisms. The field trial is being carried out at a protected site in Zurich-Reckenholz used by the Swiss agricultural research body Agroscope. SWI swissinfo.ch visited the field trial to find out what the scientists hope to achieve, and why their work is so heavily protected, even though it is legal.
