GE calves outpacing court

By ANNE BESTON and NZPA

Sixty calves with human genes could be born while an appeal against the experiment that created them is before the High Court.

Green list MP Sue Kedgley said yesterday that she was shocked Hamilton-based crown research institute AgResearch had gone ahead with the work.

The information was disclosed during the cross-examination of AgResearch GM research programme leader Dr Phil L'Huillier during the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification hearing in Wellington.

Dr L'Huillier said 60 cows at Ruakura, in Hamilton East, were pregnant with embryos carrying a human gene. The experiment is aimed at finding a cure for multiple sclerosis.

Dr L'Huillier said he was aware of concerns over the use of human DNA in animal experiments. He had used synthetic copies of DNA to avoid the problem of having to get donors to consent to specific experiments.

AgResearch also accepted Maori concerns and was discussing the issue with iwi, he said.

Waikato tribe Ngati Wairere lodged the appeal under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, which requires Maori concerns to be taken into account when undertaking genetic experiments.

Dr L'Huillier said yesterday that the experiment had already been delayed 18 months by legal requirements.

"How much longer do we wait? Those who opposed the experiment had the opportunity to take out an injunction against the work and they didn't do so."

Meanwhile, one of New Zealand's top cancer gene researchers has told the commission that genetic modification is an essential tool in searching for cancer cures.

Dr Parry Guilford, a senior research fellow at the University of Otago's Cancer Genetics Laboratory, said the next generation of cancer drugs was likely to involve genetic modification and outlawing them in New Zealand meant they would be available only to those who could afford to travel overseas for treatment.

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