GE conflict forced me to quit: Devoy

Dame Susan Devoy says she felt forced to resign as patron of the Cystic Fibrosis Association because of the views of a small group of members who could not tolerate her opposition to GM agriculture.

Dame Susan resigned this month after pressure from grassroots members angered by her role in anti-GM group the Sustainability Council.

An association spokesman said last week that members felt her opposition to GM agriculture could damage GM medical research, which they hoped would eventually provide a cure for cystic fibrosis.

Dame Susan said that the campaign to oust her - by a small group of members - was "pretty awful".

She felt she had a lot to still offer the association, especially in her role as a member of the Auckland District Health Board, but understood how the group felt and did not want to cause conflict within the association.

She said she had always supported GM medical research in the laboratory and was disappointed the association's members did not believe the public could distinguish between that and GM agriculture, which she opposed. Sustainability Council spokesman Simon Terry said those seeking a cure for rare disorders needed to have faith in the public's ability to see GM medical research as distinct from GM agriculture.

He said council member Professor Garth Cooper was one of the country's leading GM medical researchers and the group had consistently pointed to the potential for medical and other laboratory applications deriving from gene science. Sufferers' families should not try and gag debate on GM agriculture, he said.

But Organisation for Rare Disorders spokesman John Forman said many anti-GM groups still opposed experiments such as AgResearch's transgenic cows, despite voicing support for GM research.

Mr Forman said Dame Susan made the right decision to step down and other anti-GM celebrities such as Xena star Lucy Lawless - a patron for the Starship Foundation - should also consider resigning.

He said GM science was the best hope of a cure for many of the children treated at Starship Hospital.

- NZPA



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