AgResearch Gets Green Light  For GM Research

AgResearch has been given the go-ahead  to continue its work with genetically modified cattle and to carry out new research on sheep and goats.

The transgenic programme at Rua- Kura near Hamilton was given a 10-year consent due to run out this year. The Environmental Risk Management Authority has granted the new approval for the next  20 years, with a review set at the 10-year mark..

AgResearch says the research could help fight diseases like breast cancer, diabetes and thrombosis. But many of the more than 1500 submissions on the proposal opposed the GM research and the anti-GM activists say the battle continues.

The Environmental Risk Management Authority says the controversial research will be subject to tight controls. They include:
• Keeping  research facilities strictly contained,  such as two-metre high, double fencing of outdoor facilities
• Preventing animal products from entering the food chain
• Limiting the approval to research only
• And limiting and even excluding  the range of modifications and types of organisms