By CHRIS DANIELS
Two Auckland scientists have been suspended from their jobs while authorities investigate whether their genetic engineering research broke the law.
The scientists were working at Landcare Research's Mt Albert centre, copying the DNA of endangered worms and storing them in soil bacteria.
The acting chief of the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma), Donald Hannah, said he was extremely concerned that such work might have been going on without proper approval.
One of the suspended researchers was described by Research, Science and Technology Minister Pete Hodgson as a senior scientist at the Government-owned crown research institute.
Last week, GE research at the Otago Christchurch School of Medicine was found to be breaching the approval rules of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act. These researchers, experimenting with E. coli bacteria and DNA from native species, prompted Erma to launch a nationwide check for unauthorised GE research.
Dr Andy Pearce, chief executive of Landcare Research, said the "possible breaches" at the Mt Albert labs were discovered in an internal audit after last week's disclosure of illegal work in Christchurch.
"I deeply regret that these infringements have occurred. Landcare Research is regarding these breaches very seriously."
Erma gives approval to large-scale GE research, but delegates this power to "biosafety committees" operating at 20 different institutions so they can approve "low-risk" research.
Landcare Research has had this power revoked while Erma investigates what its scientists were doing at Mt Albert. This applies to all Landcare's research facilities across the country.
Mr Hodgson said the recent experiments needed an equivalent of a "warrant of fitness."
"It was picked up as a result of our checking. It is more paperwork than actual danger to the environment," the minister said.
"It was an experiment in containment. It did involve genetic modification experimentation, which happens every day in this country. The unfortunate thing is that this is not a PhD student, this is a more senior scientist and investigations are continuing."
Mr Hodgson said it was more of a legal and ethical problem than a risk to the environment or public safety.
He was confident that it would not happen again, as the scientific community wanted the rules to work so research could continue.
Explore this issue further in:
GE DEBATE - A Herald series
