The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill has gained Royal Assent after its passage through Parliament and a three-month public consultation in 2021.

This means gene-edited food can now be developed commercially in England – but Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments have not permitted the change.

Supporters of the technology say it will speed up the development of hardier crops that will be needed because of climate change. Gene editing is different to genetic modification as it does not introduce new DNA into organisms and only works within plant’s own DNA.

The breeding technique has the ability to speed up the creation of new plant varieties which could increase food security and tackle climate change. The Precision Breeding Act will allow only genetic changes that could also have been produced naturally, or through traditional cross-breeding programmes already in use.

READ MORE: English gene editing bill leaving Scotland behind on crop breeding

Gene editing in England had been covered under the same tight regulation that restricted the commercial development of GM crops under EU law. Brexit enabled the Westminster government to relax its rules for the new technology.

The chief scientific advisor for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Prof Gideon Henderson, said that the new rules would lead to better food production and bring jobs and investment to England.

He said: "What's changed is that we can now use precision breeding technology developed in the lab and take it into the fields so that we can grow better crops and bring them to market more readily so that we can use the technology to enhance agricultural outcomes and food production in the UK and globally.”

The Scottish government has a long-standing opposition to GM and wishes to stay in step with the EU, where its use is currently undergoing review.