OGM: soglie di tolleranza per le sementi e metodiche analitiche – 1° parte.

GMOs: thresholds for seeds and analytical methods – Sampling and analytical procedures. Differently from food and feed products, no threshold has yet been established for the unintentional and technically unavoidable GMO presence in seedlots. Nevertheless, the definition of these thresholds, on a crop-to-crop basis, will be essential to implement strategies for coexistence of transgenic and conventional agriculture. In this perspective the adoption of appropriate sampling and testing methods is of great relevance. Regarding the first aspect, the EU suggests that the procedures described in ISTA Rules be adopted, whereas PCR-based techniques currently represent by far the most common approach to GMO analysis. In particular, real time PCR is the prevalent method of quantification of contaminants, even if other analytical approaches can be suitable for seeds.