![\"A](\"\/\/media.nature.com\/w800\/magazine-assets\/d41586-019-01519-6\/d41586-019-01519-6_16714872.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>Sugar beet is one of four crops listed as a priority for Russian gene-editing research.\u00a0<\/span>Credit: Bloomberg\/Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Russia is embracing gene-editing. A 111-billion-rouble (US$1.7-billion) federal programme aims to create 10 new varieties of gene-edited crops and animals by 2020 \u2014 and another 20 by 2027.<\/p>\n Alexey Kochetov, director of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, welcomed the research programme, noting that genetics in Russia has been \u201cchronically underfinanced\u201d for decades. Funding for science\u00a0plummeted in the 1990s<\/a>\u00a0following the break-up of the Soviet Union, and Russia still lags behind other major powers: in 2017, it spent 1.11% of its gross domestic product on research, compared with 2.13% in China and 2.79% in the United States.<\/p>\n But some researchers doubt that the goals can be met on time, and worry that the initiative does not address the other issues they face, such as excessive bureaucracy.<\/p>\n It is also not clear whether the 111 billion roubles is included in the existing federal civilian-science budget \u2014 which in 2018 was 364 billion roubles, with 22 billion roubles spent on genetics research \u2014 or whether it comes in addition to that budget.<\/p>\n The programme, which was announced in April, has also attracted interest because it suggests that some gene-edited products will now be exempt from a law passed in 2016 that prohibits the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) organisms in Russia, except for research purposes. Previously, it was not clear whether gene-edited organisms were included in the ban.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Transgenic distinction<\/strong><\/p>\n The 2016 law describes GM organisms as those with gene modifications \u201cthat cannot result from natural processes\u201d. But the\u00a0decree that established the new programme<\/a>\u00a0describes gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR\u2013Cas9 \u2014 which do not necessarily insert foreign DNA \u2014 as equivalent to conventional breeding methods.<\/p>\n That marks a welcome step for Russian researchers, many of whom were demotivated by the uncertainty of the 2016 ban, according to a scientist at a major institute of the RAS in Moscow who asked to remain anonymous for fear of professional repercussions.<\/p>\n The wording of the decree chimes with the stance of the US agriculture department, which last year said that it has no plans to regulate \u201cplants that could otherwise have been developed through traditional breeding techniques\u201d, including gene-edited species \u2014 although the situation isless clear with animals<\/a>, which are overseen by the Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n By contrast, a July 2018 ruling from the European Union\u2019s highest court declared that gene-edited crops are subject to the\u00a0same tough regulations as conventional GM organisms<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 something many scientists said would hamper research.<\/p>\n Konstantin Severinov, a molecular geneticist who helped to develop the government programme, told\u00a0Nature<\/i>\u00a0that is important that Russia is not sidelined in the world\u2019s \u201cCRISPR bonanza\u201d, and that one goal of the programme is to make Russia less dependent on imported crops.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite considering itself a bread basket, Russia is highly dependent on imports when it comes to elite crop varieties, so [the government decided] something needs to be done,\u201d says Severinov, who splits his time between Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology near Moscow. \u201cLuckily, a few RAS members managed to make the case that CRISPR\u2013Cas9 is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Barley and beets<\/strong><\/p>\n The decree lists four crops \u2014 barley, sugar beet, wheat and potatoes \u2014 as priorities. Russia is the world\u2019s biggest producer of barley and a major producer of the other three, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.<\/p>\n Projects to develop gene-edited versions of these crops are already under way. Scientists at RAS institutes in Moscow are developing pathogen-resistant varieties of potatoes and sugar beet. And gene-editing research aiming to make barley and wheat both easier to process and more nutritious is in progress at the Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry in St Petersburg, and at the RAS Institute of Cytology and Genetics.<\/p>\n But whether Russian scientists can meet the programme\u2019s ambitious goals is unclear. Despite helping to develop the programme, Severinov \u2014 who once famously described working in Russia as like \u201cswimming in a pool without water\u201d \u2014 says that it does not address the \u201cinhumanely bad\u201d conditions for doing life-sciences research in Russia, including red tape and poor access to supplies.<\/p>\n The anonymous scientist who spoke to\u00a0Nature<\/i>\u00a0also doubts the programme\u2019s timeline: \u201cI am sure [the government] will spend the money and call the programme a huge success. I am less confident there will actually be any new varieties by next year \u2014 perhaps later.\u201d<\/p>\n Kochetov says that the initiative\u2019s goals are realistic. \u201cThe research programme will bring promising products \u2014 there\u2019s no doubt about it.\u201d He says that private companies might accelerate funding for gene-editing research now that the law is clearer. But he thinks that some legal uncertainty remains, and predicts that further regulation will be required to bring to market any organisms developed under the programme.<\/p>\n Yi Li, a plant scientist at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, says that the programme\u2019s launch is \u201ca significant move\u201d both for Russia and the world. He says that it could prompt China to invest more in gene-editing technologies, and help to fuel growing enthusiasm for such technologies in the United States. \u201cFor European countries, this can be a very interesting development in the light of the European court of justice ruling on genome editing,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Nature<\/span>\u00a0569<\/strong>, 319-320 (2019)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n