Dirk Inze

Big step forward for gene editing and innovation in Europe 🇪🇺🌱 The EU Council has officially adopted new rules on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), creating a clearer, science-based framework for gene-edited crops. This opens the door to faster development of climate-resilient, pest-resistant, and more sustainable crops—while boosting competitiveness across the agri-food system. After years of debate, Europe is finally aligning regulation with scientific progress. 🔗 Link: consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press… #GeneEditing #CRISPR #NGTs #Biotechnology #AgTech #FoodSecurity #EU #PrecisionBreeding

Generation of Brassica napus with enhanced Sclerotinia sclerotiorum resistance through CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated inhibition of the PROTEOLYSIS6 N‐degron pathway nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/np…

Good news. Took a long time.

Our Scientific Council met for the first plenary in its new constellation! Meet our six new members and our three new Vice-Presidents: link.europa.eu/NdwjMm Learn more about our independent governing body: link.europa.eu/CPH7DW

📢 ✅ The European Parliament’s ENVI Committee has approved the NGT compromise text with a strong majority. A key step forward for EU plant breeders & farmers, bringing the regulation closer to adoption. Next steps: Council confirmation and final votes in the coming months. 🌱🌾 Read our press release 📰➡️ tinyurl.com/5favm77p #GrowingTheFuture #NGTs

Would You Eat This Purple Tomato? The purple tomato with a snapdragon gene is packed with powerful, cancer-fighting anthocyanins, the same compounds found in blueberries, purple cabbages, and plums atlasobscura.com/articles/norfo…

Here are some facts and figures from the 2025 Consolidator Grant call: 🔶 €728 million in funding 🔶 349 mid-career researchers from Europe and beyond 🔶 44 different nationalities All of them pushing the frontiers of knowledge. Congratulations!

Hamas is the only army in the world that wears civilian clothes during war and puts on uniforms during ceasefires.

The French Revolution was a disaster: killed 2 million people, led to the rise of Napoleon--perhaps the world's first totalitarian fascist dictator, who began wars of conquest that killed an additional 4 million people, led to the restoration of slavery, to the restoration of the monarchy, and a delay of democracy in France by perhaps a century. Russian Revolution killed several million, led to the Russian Civil War--which killed another 9 million--led to the rise of Stalin, who killed 20 million. There's an old cliché: you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Well, it ignores the fact that people aren't eggs, and that generally does not result in an omelette. Again, the Chinese Revolution, perhaps the most disastrous event in history, led to the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, killed perhaps 30 to 40 million people altogether. Clip from the @IAI_TV

Maria Leptin re-appointed as ERC President 🇪🇺 ERC Vice Presidents: This is excellent, ensuring continuity at a critical moment. On behalf of the Scientific Council, we thank Maria for her leadership & strong commitment that has taken ERC to new heights. erc.europa.eu/news-events/ne…

Cocoa production has been increasing threatened by disease. Gene editing has contributed to developing disease resistant cocoa. Gene editing can contribute to mitigating many production threats. It boggles the mind that organics & eNGOs are opposed. psu.edu/news/research/…

The world can count on Europe's climate leadership. Our Nationally Determined Contribution will range between 66.25% and 72.5%. And we are working full speed on -90% by 2040. We are on our way to climate neutrality ↓ twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

"We don't hire smart people to tell them what to do, we hire them to tell us what to do." ERC grantee Jan Lagerwall (quoting Steve Jobs), during #RIDaysEU discussion of how a bottom up approach, supporting investigator-driven frontier research, helps us meet future challenges.

👏 India releasing two rice varieties developed through genome editing, at a public sector research lab. Way to go!

"In five to 10 years, gene technologies can achieve what a selective [apple] breeding programme would take 60 years to do. Thanks to the impacts of climate change, the industry can't wait 60 years. Climate change will have buggered us by then." rnz.co.nz/news/what-you-…

Very promising news on the next seven-year EU budget, with a proposed substantial increase for Horizon Europe including the ERC. We are analysing the other parts of this proposal in more detail. @Vonderleyen @EZaharievaEU research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-resea…

📣 Good news: 281 top researchers have just won ERC Advanced Grants! The new funding, worth nearly €721 million, is part of the 🇪🇺 EU’s #HorizonEurope programme. Read more 👉 europa.eu/!JYKxkD #ERCAdG #FrontierResearch @EUScienceInnov

A newly published report highlights the results of ERC Proof of Concept (#ERCPoC) funding between 2014 and 2023. During this period, 1 731 projects across 30 EU and Associated Countries were supported, with a total investment of €259 million. 👉 europa.eu/!HT4FMV

Pleasure to meet the President of the @ERC_Research @mleptin. Europe's strength and competitiveness depend heavily on our R&D ecosystem and ability to turn scientific achievements into commercial success stories. For that, cutting the red-tape & excessive regulation must be among top priorities of the EU agenda.

EU research proposes dual system: one EU-wide organic label for “organic without NGTs” and another for “organic with NGTs,” so preserving transparency and consumer choice while allowing more progressive organic farmers to benefit from targeted innovation. seedworld.com/europe/2025/06…