Mr. Bill Callanan:

It is a very pertinent question in that the whole issue of gene editing is now being put on the agenda by the Commission. I cannot give the committee an affirmative as to what stage the proposals are at. It is only a personal opinion of mine that in terms of its societal acceptability, it will be influenced because of its use elsewhere. For example, in human medicine and so on there are opportunities around gene editing, which may create a more rounded debate on gene editing than heretofore on GMO.