Dr. Barbara Doyle Prestwich:

Most definitely. Those four big multinationals have been at the forefront because of the cost of regulation. That has been the real problem. We have been doing this kind of work in our labs for years through undergraduate and postgraduate projects, but when we reach the stage of wanting to commercialise a product, it could cost up to an estimated €20 million. Even where the older version of this technology is proven okay on safety grounds, it might still be blocked in Europe. CRISPR is different, though. A different kind of scene is emerging. I cited a number of examples in table 1 of my submission, which references some universities that are now able to be in the game and be competitive doing it. We are moving away from domination by multinationals. That was purely on financial grounds, not because of technology or expertise.