"22nd Century Pufferfish" Relieving Food Crisis? Gene-edited food is a "hometown tax" gift in return

In October 2019, after Japan's "Guests for Food Hygiene of Food and Additives for Compilation Technology" in Japan, the gene-edited food (ゲノム Compilation Food) that has passed the application can be sold to the outside world. In addition to the previously introduced GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) gene-edited tomatoes and sea bream, the third gene-edited food that has passed the application is the red-fin eastern puffer (トラフグ/Takifugu rubripes) commonly known as tiger puffer.

Friends who want to know what gene editing is, and what is the difference between gene editing food and past genetically modified food (GM food), please refer to the old article " GABA tomato, super-thick red sea bream... not regarded as a kind of food in Japan. What are genetically modified "gene-edited foods"? 》

"22nd Century Pufferfish" That Can Grow Fast

This gene-edited tiger pufferfish, like the gene-edited red sea bream, was developed by Kyoto University's start-up company Regional Fish (リージョナルフィッシュ Co. , Ltd.), and both use SDN-1: using site-specific nuclease (SDN) to cut specific It uses the cell's own DNA repair mechanism to prompt the cell to delete, replace or insert other bases at the cut position, and screen out gene-edited foods with specific traits.

Taking the gene-edited tiger puffer as an example, by deleting the growth-inhibiting leptin receptor gene (レプチン acceptor remnant) in the tiger puffer, it is possible to screen out the gene-edited tiger puffer that is especially good at eating, and speed up the development of tiger pufferfish. Growth rate of pufferfish. This gene-edited tiger puffer grows 1.9 times faster than the average farmed tiger puffer, and the faster it grows, the sooner it can be shipped.

For this reason, this gene-edited tiger puffer has been dubbed "22nd century pufferfish (22nd century ふぐ)": it takes a shorter time to breed a tiger puffer that is larger than the average, which means that the future is promising. Using gene editing technology to create more gene-edited fish that can shorten the breeding time may be able to alleviate the food crisis in the future when the supply of edible protein cannot keep up with human demand.

How gene-edited food is sold

At first, this gene-edited tiger puffer, like gene-edited tomatoes and gene-edited sea bream, was only sold in designated online channels. Basically, it is the university research lab that developed these gene-edited foods, and another startup company that is sold directly on the startup's official website .

The advantage of this is that consumers who buy these gene-edited foods must know that "this is gene-edited food" and still choose to buy. This way of sales can not only ensure that the production and sales records are clear, but also ensure that the product is shipped directly from the producer to the consumer, and that the buyer really knows what they are buying.

Recently, however, things have changed.

Gene-edited tiger pufferfish returns as "hometown tax" gift

Regional Fish has a research base in Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture. Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture believes that since this gene-edited tiger puffer was developed in Kyoto, it is a local specialty of Kyoto. Therefore, Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture launched a full meal of sashimi (てっさ) and pufferfish hot pot (てっちり) made with this gene-edited tiger puffer, as a return gift for "Hometown Tax (ふるさとTax)" .

This has changed the way gene-edited food is sold in Japan.

What is "Hometown Tax"?

" Hometown Tax " is a tax reduction introduced by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2008. As long as people donate to the local government they want to support, after deducting 2,000 yen from the donation cost, the rest can be used to offset the year's inhabitant tax and income tax . In order to thank the kind donors from all over the country, local governments will return local specialties to these donors. Donors can go to the "Hometown Tax" special website to select the desired gift when making donations. The operation method is similar to that of e-commerce websites such as Amazon or PChome. They can buy whatever they want.

In other words, when the gene-edited tiger puffer becomes a gift in return for the "hometown tax" in Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture, its sales method is no longer the same as in the past. It is directly purchased from the producer's official website, but on an e-commerce platform. More than one: Because there is more than one e-commerce platform for "Hometown Tax", it seems that the gene-edited tiger puffer has been sold on 4 "Hometown Tax" e-commerce platforms. (Sales location: さとふる／ ふるさとチョイス／ Rakuten ／ ふるなび)

When the gene-edited tiger puffer becomes a return gift for the "hometown tax payment", two problems will arise:

(1) Is the consumer's right to informed consent guaranteed?

When gene-edited food flows into e-commerce platforms, can it be ensured that consumers really know the product before they choose to buy it?

At present, from the perspective of the four "Hometown Tax" e-commerce platforms that have listed this gene-edited tiger puffer full meal, all the product names only have the name of "22nd century pufferfish". "What it is, or a description of a gene-edited food, has to be found by scrolling down to the bottom of the product description. And the way of explanation is obviously insufficient. At most, it only mentions "this is a new variety improved by gene editing technology", unlike the complete explanation earlier in this article. Is such a short sentence, or even a one-word description, enough? Has the producer fulfilled its obligation to inform the consumer? This is definitely worth discussing.

(2) Should the local government endorse the technology?

Then again, when the gene-edited tiger puffer became a gift in return for the "hometown tax" of Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture, the gene-edited tiger puffer was endorsed by the local government. While Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture is aggressively promoting and promoting the gene-edited tiger puffer to consumers across Japan, in case, what happens to the gene-edited tiger puffer in the future, will Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture be responsible?

In March this year, a civic group consisting of local fishermen and farmers visited the mayor of Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture, and asked Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture to remove the whole meal of gene-edited tiger puffer fish from the shelves. Find and buy on the e-commerce platform of "Pay Tax". When the local councilor questioned the relevant units of the city government, the attitude of Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture was still negative. The city government did not conduct additional investigations, and was unwilling to hold a local briefing. It only emphasized that Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture believes in the technology of Regional Fish, and the gene editing technology must be Can improve the world food problems and so on. The attitudes of Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture, may exacerbate public distrust of the government or gene editing technology.

This article is simultaneously published in the Japanese current affairs まとめ translation of Kaori Ishikawa .