The future of the GMO ban – The Spinoff

New Zealands genetic engineering laws face a tough challenge from new technology, Justin Giovannetti writes in The Bulletin.

Theres a hole in the wall keeping genetically modified organisms out of New Zealand and its shaped like an impossible burger.As Chris Schulz wrote for The Spinoff, the lab-designed meat is the biggest name in the plant-based craze.However, the impossible burger would be impossible without genetic engineering. The core of the burger is a heme molecule that gives the meat its taste and bleeding character.The Listener (paywalled) also looked at the growth of consumer interest in plant-based alternatives.Aotearoas food safety regulator had to approve the impossible burgers sale here, giving it an exemption to the countrys ban on GMOs. While its not the first genetically engineered technology allowed into the country, its a sign of the growing pressure on Aotearoas laws.

There hasnt been a review of New Zealands laws covering GMOs in over two decades.RNZ reports that the Productivity Commission now warns that current regulations dont reflect 20 years of breakneck technological advances.The commission has recommended that regulations should accomodate new technology and not stifle innovation. The government responded that Aotearoas brand is GMO-free and it wants to maintain a proceed with caution approach to genetic engineering. Theres also little public interest in changing regulations. However, the Productivity Commission is not alone. The Climate Change Commission also recommended last year that the government consider allowing genetic engineering that could cut emissions from agriculture.

GMOs can be a passionate topic and theres no easy way to define the arguments on both sides.Prem Maan, the executive chairman of Lewis Road Creamery and Southern Pastures, wrote a defence of current laws last year.He warned of possible massive damage to the environment from uncontrolled spread of GMOs and said the current ban keeps New Zealands food exports premium, wholesome products. Similar arguments are made every few years, when a new report comes out.Mia Sutherland, a former school strike forclimate organiser, wrote for Stuff that GMOs are the climate option.With the country facing a serious challenge to rapidly slash climate emissions this decade, some genetically engineered grasses could help cut agricultural emissions by nearly half.Newsroom also looks at the advances in science and argues this goes far beyond GMOs, with New Zealand also strictly limiting gene editing.

Its possible that youll be reading a newsletter in another 20 years that also covers the countrys largely GMO-free status. But its unlikely. While theres been tremendous technological change in the 20 years since the countrys last GMO review, the next two decades promise to be even more transformative.Biology is the most important technology of this century, Wired argues in a recent review of whats to come.In ways that already seem unthinkable, technology is being used right now to edit and rewrite life. The future, for better or worse, will be increasingly synthetic.

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The future of the GMO ban - The Spinoff