The Protected Site – Agroscope’s secure trial area on the Reckenholz (Zurich) site – was established in 2014. Since then, it has offered a unique opportunity for field research with genetically modified (GM) plants in Europe, with stringent biosafety requirements and the highest security standards, not least as regards protecting the trials from vandalism. The establishment of a Protected Site is the outcome of a broad political consensus that field trials with GM crops should also be possible under the GM moratorium prevailing in Switzerland since 2005, thereby ensuring freedom of research in the plant sciences. The aim of the Protected Site is firstly to enable basic research on individual genes or combinations of genes as well as on GM plants and their interactions with the environment, and secondly to promote application-oriented research analysing the benefits and risks of GM plants for Swiss agriculture. These research activities contribute to the acquisition of experience with and evaluations of GM plants in Switzerland. In this way, important contributions can continue to be made to assist with the differentiated assessment and rating of newly developed breeding techniques, e.g. genome editing.
