Grassroots GM could help to stop hayfever

By SIMON COLLINS

Australian scientists have developed a genetically modified grass that could cure hayfever for 95 per cent of summer sneezers.

The new kind of ryegrass halves the two main allergens in ryegrass pollen which cause hayfever in 10 per cent of the population every year - about 400,000 New Zealanders.

The director of Agriculture Victoria's Plant Biotechnology Centre, Professor German Spangenberg, told the Pacific Rim Biotechnology Conference in Auckland that a field trial of the low-allergen grass would start in the United States this month.

He hopes the new grass will replace existing ryegrass varieties - around 80 per cent of New Zealand pastures.

But it will be five to 10 years before the new grass becomes available commercially. Dr Spangenberg, who is also a professor at Melbourne's La Trobe University, said the breakthrough showed genetic modification could help solve serious health problems.

It is part of the world's biggest gene discovery programme in ryegrass and clover, conducted with New Zealand's AgResearch.

An expert on allergies at the Auckland medical school, Dr Peter Black, said hayfever affected 10 to 20 per cent of New Zealanders, though some were allergic to house dust mites and suffered all year round.

Ryegrass was the predominant source of seasonal hayfever.

Green Party health spokeswoman Sue Kedgley said the new grass should be fully tested before being sown by farmers.

Herald feature: Genetic Engineering

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