AgbioInvestor’s free-to-access service AgbioInvestor GM Monitor has identified the following GM trait approvals up to November 2024. Expanded details on these recently approved traits, as well as for approvals dating back as far as 1992, can be found on AgbioInvestor’s GM Monitor website.

MZIR260 maize (SYN- ØØ26Ø-3), developed by Syngenta, has received cultivation and food/feed import approval in Brazil.

MZIR260 maize was developed through the introduction of the eCry1Gb.1Ig-03 gene, to confer the insecticidal protein eCry1Gb.1Ig, providing resistance to lepidopteran insect pests, specifically to Spodoptera frugiperda, commonly known as fall armyworm (FAW). MZIR260 maize was developed using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, using the transformation plasmid pSYN24795 to insert the desired genetic information, successful genetic transformation was then screened for using the gene pmi-15 as a selectable marker.

The cultivation and food/feed import approvals granted in Brazil is the first instance of an approval for MZIR260 maize, thought an application has also been submitted to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Health Canada and the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). CFIA and Health Canada (FSANZ) are seeking an environmental safety approval for commercial planting purposes as well as food use and feed use for livestock, while FSANZ seeks import approval, which would allow it to be sold and used for food. FSANZ conducted a safety assessment and did not find any potential public health or safety concerns with food derived from this maize line, concluding that MZIR260 maize is as safe as food from non-GM maize varieties. If approved, products containing MZIR260 could enter the Australian and New Zealand food supply through imported food products such as maize starch, grits, meal, flour, oil, and sweeteners.