- WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Reuters)
- New Zealand gave the go ahead Tuesday to begin experiments that involve
inserting human genes into cattle to produce proteins that could be used
to treat medical conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
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- A committee of the Environmental Risk Management Authority
(ERMA), which controls the introduction of new plants, animals and genetically
modified organisms into New Zealand, approved the plan despite receiving
only seven of 850 submissions supporting the proposal.
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- The authority placed restrictions on the experiment --
the first in New Zealand to involve genetic modification outside a laboratory
-- including electronic animal tagging and a complete ban on any cow leaving
the secured site. Under the approved plan, a state research institute,
AgResearch Ltd., plans to insert genes from goats, pigs, sheep, mice and
humans into the cattle, with the resulting genetically modified embryos
transferred into normal cows to create 'transgenic calves.'
-
- "You do the research because you don't know the
answers. Although some of the uncertainties of the research may be related
to the risks, likewise some of those uncertainties may be related to the
benefits," ERMA Chief Executive Basil Walker said.
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- If successful, the research could advance work to prevent
or minimize multiple sclerosis, a chronic, potentially debilitating disease
that affects the central nervous system, the AgResearch scientists said.
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- Anti-GMO lobby group GE Free New Zealand attacked the
decision saying said the risks of genetically modified organisms getting
into the food chain or crossing into other species was too great.
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- Genetic modification is a controversial issue in New
Zealand where the economy is heavily dependent on agricultural produce
and markets itself as having a green, pristine environment.
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- The recently re-elected, Labor-led coalition government
plans to lift a ban on the commercial release of genetically modified organisms
next year, a stand that caused the environmentalist Green Party to refuse
to join Labor in power.
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