Top genetic researcher to offer advice

By SIMON COLLINS

The head of one of the world's top genetic research companies, Dr Craig Venter of Celera Genomics, will speak at next month's Catching the Knowledge Wave conference in Auckland.

His speech, by video-link from the United States on August 2, will put biotechnology in the top rank of the conference's agenda just days after the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification releases a four-volume report on the issue.

Auckland University vice-chancellor John Hood, who will co-chair the conference with Prime Minister Helen Clark, said biotechnology was "central to the way we maximise value and optimise our competitiveness in our traditional primary industries."

He said Celera, the first company to map the human genetic structure, was at the core of the debate over biotechnology's "huge potential for new cures and treatments and therefore to improve global quality of life."

Dr Venter will speak on advances in the field and opportunities for NZ.

The Knowledge Wave conference has been organised by Auckland University, with corporate and Government support, "to find practical ways to secure New Zealand's long-term future as a smarter, more prosperous and successful country." About 450 people have been invited.

Meanwhile, the commission on genetic modification, chaired by former Chief Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, completed its report in a series of last-minute 15 and 16-hour days last week.

It is being printed and will be presented to the Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, on July 27.

A spokesman for Helen Clark said the report would be considered by the cabinet on July 30 and published either that day or the next.

Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said there was "a reasonable chance" that the commission might recommend that field trials of genetically modified organisms should stay banned after the present moratorium ends on August 31.

But industry sources expect it will recommend allowing field trials with appropriate safeguards.

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