Neal Wallace of the Otago Daily Times writes about warnings that NZ’s pasture-based farming system might have to change.

Stephen Goldson, AgResearch’s chief scientist and the vice-president of the Royal Society of New Zealand has said that pastoral farming may have reached its upper limits, in terms of production, and that new strategies such as the development and use of high-energy (or drought-resistant) forage should be considered.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“Dr Goldson said New Zealand had to act to address issues of competitiveness, but also to improve nutrition levels in livestock, especially dairy cows, to ensure we retained our position as leaders in pastoral farming.

“That could include using genetic modification (GM) technology, which he said was becoming more acceptable.

“In 2009 134 million ha of GM plants were grown, mostly in the United States, Argentina and Brazil, and he said there were still no consistent reports of untoward effects associated with the technology.”

Kent Atkinson (NZPA) reports in Business Day on the upcoming application by the Pastoral Genomics group for a conditional release of GM forages, in particular clover and ryegrass.

The application, however, has raised concerns amongst some groups who worry that the altered genes could spread into non-GM pasture species.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“[A Royal Society] paper noted GE clover and ryegrass are being promoted in some quarters as “cisgenic” – engineered without using genes from other species – which the biotechnology sector hopes may make the meat and milk from animals grazed on them more acceptable in some markets.

…

“Michael Dunbier, of Pastoral Genomics, told the briefing that the first GE pasture plants offered for commercial release were likely to be ones engineered to be drought resistant, but estimated the earliest commercialisation could be in 2017.”

Eloise Gibson reports in the NZ Herald on concerns that the development and use of genetically modified animals in New Zealand could damage its overseas image.

However, a paper released by the Royal Society has suggested that international attitudes towards GM food and animals may be changing due worries about food security and climate change.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“A paper released yesterday by the Royal Society of New Zealand suggested European shoppers may be warming to GM products in the face of mounting worries about climate change and food security.

“But it said there was little evidence about how GM trials affected the perception of non-GM food from the same country.

“John Hartnell of Federated Farmers said he supported trials in containment but releasing GM material in the environment would be a different matter.”

New Zealand scientists are preparing to begin applications for the use of ‘cisgenic’ pasturage – clover and ryegrass which has been genetically modified, but without using genes from other species.

It is hoped that the fact that the plants contain no genes from other species will make the the meat and milk from cows fed on them more acceptable to some consumers.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“Science academy, the Royal Society, today released an “emerging issues” discussion paper on GE forage plants, noting that it “has no intentions whatsoever of influencing ultimate decisions on use or not”, according to Stephen Goldson, the society’s vice-president of biological and life sciences.

…

“There was growing competition from low-cost producers overseas, and issues over greenhouse gas emissions form livestock farms, a need to adapt to climate change and increasing concerns about the welfare of pasture-fed animals.

“”Irrespective of ‘how’, something has to be done if NZ is to maintain leadership in pastoral industries,” he said in notes prepared for the release of the discussion paper.”

“The nation would be in “a bad way” if that competitive edge in livestock industries was lost.”

Eloise Gibson reports in the New Zealand Herald on a proposal to put human genes into livestock with the aim of creating a special type of milk.

The application, by AgResearch, is currently under consideration by ERMA, and faces opposition from groups who believe the research is unethical.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“AgResearch says that if the experiment works, proteins from the animals could be used to make cheaper “biopharmaceuticals” to treat human diseases.

“The company has already been breeding transgenic cows. Now it wants approval to continue working with the cows, and add sheep and goats to the trial.

“The breast cancer drug Herceptin was developed using genetic modification and AgResearch says such treatments have “huge” marketvalue.”

Kiran Chug reports in the Dominion Post that AgResearch may have to slaughter genetically modified cows if a current application to produce more of them is rejected.

The application asks that AgResearch use transgenic cows to develop and produce a medicinal milk, but is facing opposition from some groups who say the research is unethical.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“The long-term goal of such work was to have commercial herds of genetically engineered animals producing milk proteins that could be used by pharmaceutical companies to make medicines.

“Dr Suttie was unable to say how many genetically engineered cows AgResearch currently had, although it was allowed to have up to 200.

“If the application was rejected, those cows would either have to be slaughtered or AgResearch would have to apply to Erma to keep them but not do any research on them.”

Leading scientists examine GM issue

As part of a Science Media Centre briefing for journalists to be held on Tuesday, Agresearch chief scientist Steven Goldson will lead a panel of experts looking at the potential benefits and risks of introducing genetically modified pasture crops in New Zealand.

The Royal Society has prepared a paper on the subject as part of its Emerging Issues series which last year also covered ocean acidification and the consumption of water in the production of goods and services.

Genetically modified crops have been grown in contained environments in New Zealand for research purposes but have yet to be released for commercial use outside of labs.

Journalists interested in taking part in the online briefing should contact the SMC.

GM applications get public hearing

Meanwhile, a public hearing will be held next Monday and Tuesday in Hamilton as the Environmental Risk Management Authority takes submissions on a research application from Agresearch to develop genetically modified goats sheep and cattle.

One of the justifications for pursuing genetic modification in both forage crops and cows is that genetic traits could be introduced that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the cows.

Efforts to reduce pastoral greenhouse gas emissions will also be in the spotlight next Wednesday with the launch in Palmerston North of the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, which will coordinate research efforts in this area across the science sector.

CRI Taskforce report due next week

The Government is expected to release the report of the CRI Taskforce next week, a much-anticipated document that will outline a plan to get more value out of the country’s Crown Research Institutes.

The taskforce has been led by entrepreneur and former president of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Neville Jordan.

The report is expected to recommend changes to the purpose, governance, funding, ownership, accountability and collaboration mechanisms for CRIs but no change to the current number of CRIs.

Qantas Awards – last chance to enter

A reminder that the deadline for applications for the print version of the Qantas Media Awards is 5pm, Monday, March 1st.

The awards have had a bit of a revamp this year with the number of categories pared back. This appears to be a good move as the awards had become unwieldy with numerous categories many of which received little attention anyway.

There are no electronic submissions for Qantas entries this year, so to meet the deadline, you’ll need to get your entries onto a CD, DVD or USB and couriered or mailed to the organisers by Monday. Entry details on the Qantas Media Awards website. Good luck to all entrants.

Sciblogs in Research Blogging awards finals

Sciblogs contributors David Winter (The Avatism) and Aimee Whitcroft (misc.ience and SMC media advisor) are finalists in separate categories of the Research Blogging international science blog awards.

Research Blogging is a well respected website that “allows readers to easily find blog posts about serious peer-reviewed research, instead of just news reports and press releases”. It was set up by US-based publisher Seed Media, which is also behind the popular science blog network Scienceblogs.com

David and Aimee were selected as finalists from 400 nominees – congratulations to both of them. The awards will be announced on March 23.

Chris Gardner of the Waikato Times reports that a senior soil scientist feels that Andy West has been grovelling recently in attempts to secure funding for research into GM.

Andy West, CEO of AgResearch, was quoted last week as saying that research into GM food, in order to avert an impending global food crisis, was a moral imperative.  Soil scientist Doug Edmeades has said, however, that Dr West could have left out the emotive terminology and appealed instead to the logic of conducting such research.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“Dr West said at last week’s United States-New Zealand Agriculture and Food Workshop at Ruakura Research Centre that more research into genetic modification was needed to boost agricultural production before a world food shortage occurred as a result of global warming.

“”If genetic modification can create more food from fewer inputs, I think we have a moral obligation to use it. With our current product mix, New Zealand can feed 17 million people,” Dr West said.

“Doug Edmeades, whose agKnowledge business is Hamilton-based, said Dr West had used an alarmist appeal to grab the headlines and solicit research dollars.

“”Science should never be put in this grovelling, undignified position,” Dr Edmeades said. “It is a direct consequence of commoditising and commercialising science.”"

CRI Taskforce set to give its verdict

The CRI Taskforce, set up by the Government to review the structure of the country’s Crown Research Institutes, is set to release its recommendations after presenting them to the Minister for Research, Science and Technology, Dr Wayne Mapp on February 15.

Taskforce chairman Neville Jordan said the review had confirmed that the CRIs were a “rich repository of science capability for New Zealand”.

“…the approach of the Taskforce has been to build upon existing strengths and successes, and recommend steps we believe are needed to sharpen the ability of CRIs to contribute even further.

“At the same time we recognise that the challenges the country faces cannot be met by CRIs alone. The role of universities and independent research organisations is also important. We have also attempted to design recommendations that accommodate further improvements, beyond CRIs, that future governments might decide to implement,” he added.

Methanogen research published

A significant milestone was reached this week for scientists at AgResearch and the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium, with the publication in the journal PLoS One of the first rumen methanogen sequence.

The sequencing was completed last year after an extensive research programme and is very timely – it comes as New Zealand sets up a centre for agricultural greenhouse gas emissions research and joins a global alliance of countries committing funding and scientific resources to the challenge of reducing emissions from farming.

NZMJ goes to town on smokers

The pages of the current New Zealand Medical Journal have been given over almost entirely to the issue of smoking, smoke-free policies, perceptions of smoking and the health impacts of lighting up.

One research paper featured in the journal and based on a 2008 Health Sponsorship Council national survey, suggests there is strong public support for an end to tobacco sales within 10 years.

Another paper examines whether quitting smoking is easier for smokers of roll-your-own or tailored cigarettes.

Genetic modification in the spotlight

AgResearch was in the Court of Appeal in Wellington this week as it launched its bid to overturn a High Court decision last year that found the CRI’s applications to undertake GM research shouldn’t have been considered by the Environmental Risk Management Authority.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s chief science adviser and pro-GM scientist, Nina Fedoroff travelled around the country meeting scientists and gave a public lecture in Auckland.

Full coverage on Sciblogs:

Will AgResearch’s court appeal pay off?

US to NZ: Get real about GM

I’m pleasantly surprised to report that — contrary to some expectations — the public forum held at Te Papa last night as part of the ISBGMO conference was for the most part an exercise in respectful restraint and open dialogue.

Soundings Theatre housed a fairly decent turnout — around a hundred people — many of them conference participants. The majority of the questions posed when the mic was turned over to the audience came from individuals representing groups that are actively opposed to genetic engineering. But the tone was not hysterical, and the regulators and scientists on the panel seemed to take the responsibility of responding to the concerns raised seriously.

Claire Bleakley, president of GE Free NZ, raised the issue of scientific evidence that comes before regulators and asked how panelists weigh up the evidence when research put forward by advocacy groups conflicts with the research that applicants for GMO trials present.

Sally McCammon, Science Advisor to the USDA, gave a considered response highlighting regulators’ concern that their judgements must be based on the “weight of evidence” rather than focusing undue attention on single studies. She pointed out that there is already a large and rapidly growing body of research on GM, enough to show coherent trends in the patterns of results.

She also said that it’s always better to have several top-notch scientists studying a problem from different angles than a single researcher working in isolation. Evidence that lines up with other similar studies carries more weight — an important point to consider the next time you see scientific results hyped up and trumpeted out of context.

I asked the panelists to reflect on advances in the field since their first ISBGMO conference in 1990.

Patrick Rudelsheim discussed the transition from the traditional aims sought by conventional agriculture — resistance to pests, diseases and herbicides, which are traits that have been selected for using hybridisation for many decades — to new applications for GM technologies on the horizon. He specifically mentioned the possibility of using food crops to produce pharmaceuticals, and “enhanced foods” with added nutrients.

Vish Vishwanath of AgResearch, who’s involved in their transgenic animals research, talked about the move from shotgun technology to the ability to select and transfer targeted gene sequences at will. He also said that the introduction of genomics has enabled huge advances. Whereas in the early days of genetic modification scientists were limited to searching for traits based on animal breed, now they can quickly isolate and verify the presence of a desired gene on an animal-by-animal basis.

AgResearch’s transgenic animal application attracted a bit more attention in the public forum than during the media session earlier in the week. When criticised for the broadness of it and other GM field trial applications, panelists responded by placing the field trials in the same context as R&D. It was interesting to hear that field trials are not just a safety check to see what happens when a newly-created GMO is grown outside the lab.  Instead, they are essentially the testing ground for various competing GMO “prototypes”.  Researchers feel pressure to apply for the broadest consents possible because they have no way of saying beforehand which will prove most successful.