Global Scans · Genetic modification · Weekly Summary

A global catastrophic risk is a hypothetical future event that has the potential to damage human well-being on a global scale. Some events could cripple or destroy modern civilization. Any event that could cause human extinction is known as an existential risk.

• [New] Tropic Bioscience, a UK biotechnology company, is using CRISPR-Cas gene editing to develop Cavendish bananas resistant to Tropical Race 4, a fungal disease threatening global banana production. CRISPR Medicine
• [New] Regulatory considerations are another hurdle for developers, though the proposed updates to GMO and seed regulations in the European Union could give large players like Bayer more room to run. AgFunderNews
• [New] Japan Airlines and GMO have announced that they will begin a pilot project next month using humanoid robots to address the labour shortage in airport ground handling operations. Technocracy News
• PACE could help solve a long-standing problem with gene editing. Harvard Gazette
• While optogenetics traditionally involves genetic modification and invasive light delivery, 2026 will see breakthroughs in non-invasive light delivery methods. Emre Arslan
• Vylor's success will be driven by industry-leading germplasm, biotech, and gene-editing capabilities, as well as a world-class pipeline that includes an exciting new licensing business, proprietary hybrid wheat technology launching in 2027, and a next-gen biofuels development program. agtechnavigator.com
• WIRED's headline-level thesis is about platform thinking: gene-editing technologies are not just for inherited disease - they might also be engineered into programmable antiviral systems. Scientific Inquirer
• By 2026, we will see broader adoption of CAR-T therapies, gene editing technologies like CRISPR, and off-the-shelf cell therapies. Insight Global
• As the vast majority of soybean and corn crops grown today are genetically modified, and GMO ingredients are found in most ultraprocessed foods sold in the U.S., all parents and consumers need to be aware of the risks or uncertainties associated with the foods they choose for their families. Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog
• Production expenses have outpaced commodity prices for two consecutive years, and farmers are not asking about gene-editing timelines - they are asking how to make 2027's numbers work. AgFunderNews
• Manufacturing for advanced modalities will continue to mature in 2026: scalable gene-editing, allogeneic cell therapies, and modular vector manufacturing lines. International Multispeciality Journal of Health
• All the gene editing treatments that exist now or are being imagined over the next decade, heritable or not, involve exorbitant cost and will be inaccessible to most people worldwide. Gizmodo
• A University of Texas at Austin research team funded by the National Institutes of Health and in a partnership with Bay Area biotech company Metagenomi Thereaputics has developed a smaller pair of molecular scissors for gene editing that could make site-specific delivery within the body possible. EurekAlert!
• A new regulatory framework proposed in February by the US Food and Drug Administration could dramatically reduce the time and cost of bringing personalised CRISPR-Cas gene-editing therapies to patients with rare genetic diseases. CRISPR Medicine
• Because AI speeds up all the modeling work, many gene-editing clinical trials are expected to move faster starting in 2026. Clival Database

Last updated: 21 June 2026