by Rhoda Wilson, Expose News:
New Zealand’s livestock products rely on its clean green grass-fed image. Why then is the New Zealand government and agricultural organisations throwing it away in favour of adopting biotechnology tools that genetically alter livestock?
The excuse given for conducting genetic research on livestock using an RNA platform is to reduce methane emissions. This biotechnology industry is born out of the vague promises of gene dreamers that it will be “safe and effective” and the discredited notion that animal methane emissions are at the heart of climate change.
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But, as Dr. Guy Hatchard points out, let’s not forget that methane is produced from the normal digestive processes of animals that have been roaming the planet in large numbers for thousands of years without warming the globe.
It’s not only animals that they are planning to genetically modify, it is crops as well. The proposed biotechnologies aimed at methane reductions and crop characteristics will contaminate our traditional foods with novel genetic sequences with as yet unknown consequences for animal and human health, Dr. Hatchard warns.
Government Announces Biotechnology Deregulation is Coming to New Zealand very soon. What Will It Mean for Us?
The Government has announced that during the next three months, it will take Cabinet decisions on new regulations to remove the ban on genetic engineering and enable the safe (???) use of gene technology in agriculture, health science, and other sectors (???). Following the Covid pandemic, the word ‘safe’ has a very hollow ring to it. So, what exactly will deregulated biotechnology look like, what projects will get the green light in New Zealand, who is involved, and is it safe?
What Will Deregulated Biotechnology Look Like?
America has a biotechnology industry that fiercely lobbies the government to forestall any regulation. Integrated DNA Technologies, for example, is a company that sells “all of the reagents needed for successful genome editing” with kits designed for delivery into human cells beginning at $95. Over at a site called GeneCopoeia, a CRISPR Cas9 protein with a nuclear location signal starts at $69. A multitude of US companies seem to offer everything to get you going editing and cloning at home.
If you don’t fancy making designer babies, you might like to order a deadly pathogen and see if you can make it any better at its job. This is not a joke. Everything is available by mail order delivered right to your door. In deregulated America, a huge community of biohackers has grown up dedicated to doing anything that can be done to human life as we know it. It was in this environment that American scientists were able to divert US government grants to Wuhan to build lethal coronaviruses.
What Projects Will Get the Green Light in New Zealand, and Who Is Involved?
In the first instance, biotechnology deregulation will particularly impact our traditional food sources. Already, at least $195 million has been funnelled into research to reduce ruminant methane emissions. The coalition government has pledged another $400 million to AgriZero to fund ongoing research. AgriZero is a joint government-private partnership tasked with researching “tools” that will drive down ruminant emissions.
Partners Are Fonterra, Ravensdown, Silver Fern Farms, Rabobank, Asb, Anz, Synlait.
The “biotech solutions” researched so far include vaccines, boluses (pills), feed additives and GE grasses. Biotech public relations dreamers have sold the idea that all of these tools will reduce ruminant methane. Let’s not forget that methane is produced from the normal digestive processes of animals that have been roaming the planet in large numbers for thousands of years without warming the globe.
An entire industry including universities and biotech companies – complete with unaccountable and highly paid board members, CEOs, etc. – has already been born, all holding out their hands to the government to secure a never-ending income stream for biotechnology experimentation. This industry is born out of the vague promises of gene dreamers that it will be “safe and effective” and the discredited notion that animal methane emissions are at the heart of climate change.
The levy and advocacy groups – Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Dairy New Zealand and Federated Farmers – all enthusiastically and naively support the research and development of biotechnology tools. Beef + Lamb NZ is also receiving government funding for its CoolSheep programme which is researching low methane genetics even though this is at the expense of true productive traits that farmers have bred into New Zealand flocks for decades.
Multiple other projects are in the pipeline. The government recently established an RNA Platform to identify and support opportunities for New Zealand in areas such as human health and the health of other animals. It builds on global progress in the use of these technologies, most notably the development of mRNA vaccines.
As part of a series of Fast Start projects funded through the RNA Platform, investment has been approved for AgResearch scientists to provide a proof-of-concept for the application of mRNA vaccines in livestock, specifically to address Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (“BVD”). Nor are RNA Platform programmes limited to animal research; they include crop science and human mRNA vaccines. There is a very broad brush at work
Just stop for a moment and think; as we have reported before, consumers do not want food with tinkered genes. Artificial meat companies are failing overseas. Our export partners are buying our agricultural products relying on our clean green grass-fed image. Why throw that away?
AgriZero thinks otherwise. It believes that biotechnology animals with a low methane profile will be an international selling point to our increasingly discerning (???) international customers. Good luck with that. I used to work at Genetic ID (now FoodChain ID), which built an international business out of genetic engineering (“GE”) free testing and certification. I can tell you that consumer suspicion of genetically modified food runs very deep indeed. You can only sell it widely if you are not required to label it. Something that the unregulated US market has embraced to the detriment of food traceability, safety, and consumer choice.
The AgriZero partnership is well aware of consumer disquiet; therefore, it operates behind a wall of secrecy. When asking detailed questions about safety, viability, efficacy, etc. you get short vague platitudes like this one from Rabobank: “Please be reassured that Rabobank is continuing to work hard in the best interests of our clients and the wider sector.”
