Publications: L. Val Giddings

OMB’s proposed rule to increase the productivity and success of the U.S. scientific research establishment is commendable. But the rule in its totality would introduce dangerous and counterproductive revisions to the Uniform Guidance that would drastically reshape the American scientific enterprise for the worse and impose severe and long-lasting economic damage.

Decades of experience without a single negative consequence attributable to an unexpected attribute of biotech-improved crops provides a robust falsification of the hazard hypothesis on which the 1986 Coordinated Framework was predicated.

Amid all the chaos and upheaval that came with the year just finished, one could easily be forgiven for failing to notice the wealth of positive developments in biotechnology. But there was plenty to report, especially on the agriculture front.

A proposed moratorium on genetically modified plants and animals would backfire—decades of evidence show biotechnology helps conserve biodiversity by reducing habitat loss, curbing disease, and aiding species recovery.

The last three administrations have mandated updates and improvements to reduce unjustified regulatory burdens on biotech innovations, but only small steps have been taken where large ones are required, and the present turmoil threatens to impede improvements.

2024 showcased breathtaking biotech breakthroughs—from mucosal immunity to gene-edited organ transplants—proving the future of innovation is brighter than ever, if we overcome the obstacles holding it back.

The first Trump administration made significant progress in several areas. But there is much more work still to do. Here are five guiding principles and two concrete first steps to modernize regulations for crops, livestock, and microbes improved through biotechnology.

Mexico's newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum, can reverse President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's anti-innovation policies toward genetically modified maize, and improve the lives of small farmers across Mexico.

As L. Val Giddings writes for the Center for a New American Security, thanks to technological advances and sound policies, the United States quickly emerged as the global leader in agricultural biotechnology innovation.

Gene editing and genetic modification hold enormous potential to deliver solutions to multiple climate change challenges. The most important rate-limiting obstacles impeding their development and deployment are not technical, but rather counterproductive policies and regulations. These are driven in part by the mistaken apprehension of widespread public opposition. These obstacles are described and solutions to overcoming them are presented.