Plant pathologist Yinong Yang of Pennsylvania State University has created a new variant of common white button mushrooms that are resistant to browning from oxidation.
How did he do it, you ask? He changed two letters of the mushroom DNA code using a new technology called CRISPR that can alter the genome of almost any organism.
You may think this sounds a lot like genetic modification, but according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it's not.
As the debate rages on about the definition of GMOs and whether or not to label them, the USDA published a letter saying it won't regulate Dr. Yang's genetically altered mushrooms as it does other GMOs.
Until CRISPR, GMOs were created with genetic material from foreign sources. Because Yang's mushrooms don't include any foreign genetic material – despite being purposely genetically modified – the USDA says it won't classify them as a GMO.
And that means they won't be subject to the same oversight or regulations as other GMOs, either. The EPA only regulates GMOsdesigned for pest control and considers them all to be safe.
Whether the mushroom will be available for public consumption remains to be seen. Giorgio Mushroom Co., the company who paid for Yang's research, isn't sure they even want to sell them.
"The marketing people at Giorgio are more interested in organic mushrooms and are afraid of negative response regarding GMO from consumers," Yang said in Scientific American.