While most of the world quickly realised the potential of gene-editing to protect against various viruses, the European Commission retarded progress for two years as the European Court of Justice vacillated on the correct policies. Meanwhile, in 2019, there were 500 gene-editing projects underway in China, 400 in the US, and 100 in Japan. CRISPR-Cas9 could drastically change how we treat diseases and protect ourselves - but in July 2018, the court rejected expert advice and ruled that gene-edited organisms should be subject to the same crippling regulation as GMOs.

By 2019, Europe was already dramatically behind. America had taken out 872 patent families and China 858, while the entirety of the EU had only taken out 194. Since then, the gap has been growing. Three French scientists concluded that the GMO bans in Europe have “had a strong negative impact on the future of biotechnology in the continent”.