The button white mushroom edited using CRISPR has successfully bypassed the genetically modified organisms (GMO's) rules of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In the United States, Agaricus bisporus (white mushrooms) are the most commonly eaten mushrooms. But, they turn brown at a fast speed, which has a bad impact on its sale.

Therefore, Yinong Yang, Pennsylvania State University geneticist targeted an enzyme that resulted makes the white mushrooms turn brown. He sued the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing tool, and wiped off a gene family, encoding this enzyme. This resulted into a genetically modified mushroom with its browning activity decreasing by 30%.

Last year, when the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the USDA was given a job to regulate the mutated fungus, APHIS said that they won’t regulate the latest product because it doesn't include genetic information from other organisms alike the other genetically modified foods.

While responding last week, USDA said, “APHIS does not consider CRISPR/Cas9-edited white button mushrooms as described in your October 30, 2015 letter to be regulated pursuant to 7 CFR part 340”.

This indicated that the production and sale of mutated mushroom can be done without extra regulations. Yang's mutated mushrooms aren’t the first GMOs that have managed to bypass the USDA regulation, but it is for sure the first one to be tweaked with the help of hotly contested gene editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 technology.

New genes aren’t there in genetically tweaked products, and their absence is a bureaucratic loophole that has let GMOs to bypass rules. Initially, GMOs included genes from bacteria or viruses, affecting the DNA of the crop or product. As per regulators, the plant pests of these GMOs are subject to regulation.