Gene-cow decision upsets MS sufferer

By JO-MARIE BROWN

As a young teacher at Epsom Normal Primary School in the early 1960s, Mary Anne Worth was shocked to discover one day that she could not walk up the stairs to her classroom.

The decades of dizzy spells, extreme fatigue and aching legs which followed resulted in a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 1984.

"The doctor who told me said, 'Oh well, there's no cure and no treatment. Goodbye'."

Mrs Worth is now outraged to hear that an experiment involving genetically engineered cows, which could help MS sufferers, has been put on hold.

"When I heard I thought, how dare they! It's too late for me, but this was a chance for the young people being diagnosed with MS to get some help. It's very cruel."

The trial at crown research institute AgResearch in Hamilton, involving 60 pregnant cows with human genes, was thrown into doubt on Thursday when the High Court at Wellington set aside the Environmental Risk Management Authority's approval of it, because Erma had not followed the proper steps.

Amid fears that the cows would have to be destroyed, AgResearch immediately asked the court to allow the experiment to continue while Erma was reconsidering its decision.

Yesterday, the court said the experiment could continue for at least two weeks, giving the cows a fortnight's stay of execution.

"My interpretation is that we're expecting Erma to act speedily in reconsidering, but if [the Erma decision] is not finalised in two weeks, we will have to go back for another two-week stay from the court," said AgResearch chief executive officer Dr Keith Steele.

Erma gave AgResearch scientists at Hamilton's Ruakura Research Centre the go-ahead last July to insert a synthetic basic human protein, myelin, into cattle foetuses.

It was hoped the calves - due next month - would produce a special protein in their milk which, if beneficial, could potentially be purified into a solid pill for MS sufferers.

Dr Steele said the court's decision did not spell the end of the trial.

"[The judgment] is not about the rights or wrongs of the research, it's about technical points of law.

"The judge made the comment that the fact that he has set aside the application does not necessarily mean that the decision, when properly reconsidered, should be any different from the original decision."

Dr Steele was confident Erma would re-grant approval.

It would be tragic if the cows had to be killed, he said.

"If the cows were in fact slaughtered, it sends a very strong signal internationally about New Zealand's stance in respect of some newer technologies, and I believe that would have flow-on effects in attracting overseas investors."

Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons yesterday reiterated her belief that genetically engineering cows was not the only way scientists could make the protein.

"I don't think this trial would have produced any benefit to MS sufferers that could not be produced in other ways."

While MS deserved further research, Ms Fitzsimons believed the main thrust of the experiment was to perfect genetic engineering techniques and produce "designer milks" for human consumption.

"MS has been tacked on to this project to try and get greater public support. That's unfair to MS sufferers because it's holding out the prospect of treatment," she said.

Erma chief executive Dr Bas Walker said the authority would meet next week to decide how AgResearch's application would be reassessed.

The purpose of the trial was to establish whether it was possible to produce the protein, he said. Developing it as a possible treatment for MS would require separate approval.

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The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Auckland