World News for Students of English

07-04-2025 07:00

The European Union wants to change the rules for New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). These techniques change a plant’s genes instead of adding genes from other species, like GMOs.

Some people believe this can help make plants stronger and reduce the need for chemicals. Others worry that these changes could be dangerous for nature and people’s health. There is also disagreement about how to control these new plants. The European Parliament and the European Council have different opinions on important things like labeling and patents. The Council decided that companies can have patents if they follow rules, but the Parliament wants to stop patents completely. They think big companies will take control, which will be bad for small farmers.

In the past, many countries banned GMOs, but new laws may stop them from doing that. Some experts say these new plants are almost the same as natural ones, but others warn that they can change nature in unknown ways. Scientists are also using artificial intelligence to improve these techniques, which is bringing new discussions.

Difficult words: disagreement (a situation in which people or organizations have different opinions), label (to put information on a product’s packaging), unknown (something we don’t know).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.