How genetically modified crops could feed us and help safeguard nature

I have never been a supporter of Brexit, except for one thing: it has allowed the UK to break free from the damaging straitjacket of European Union agricultural policy, including its prohibition on genetically modified crops. I have always believed this was based more on sentiment than science. In post-Brexit Britain, science has won.

Last year, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act came into force, allowing the development of gene-edited crops and animals in England. This isn’t quite GM, which allows for the insertion of genes from other species, rather than gene editing’s approach…