GMO: Will AgResearch’s HME ryegrass live up to its early hype?
Crown research institute estimates that, over 20 years, about $44m has been spent on research aimed at lowering livestock emissions and boosting farm productivity.
Results from a feeding trial will firm up the ryegrass’s potential for future commercialisation.
What’s at stake: The long-running research programme into genetically modified HME ryegrass is reaching a pivotal stage of animal feeding trials in New Zealand but critics say it won’t deliver the promised gains in methane reduction on farms.
Background: AgResearch did field trials on the ryegrass in the US because of New Zealand’s restrictive GE laws but a planned trial in Australia was withdrawn following a protein problem in the ryegrass that has been addressed. Ongoing funding is now a real issue.
Main players: AgResearch, Nick Roberts, Grasslanz Technology, Jack Caradus, Claire Bleakley, GE-Free New Zealand, PGG Wrightson Seeds.
Quick explainer:
Genetic modification organisms (GMO): any organism that has been genetically modified through any genetic engineering technique, including transgenic organisms.
Genetic modification (GM): The act of utilising genetic technology to modify the genome of an organism, also referred to as genetic engineering. This doesn’t include traditional breeding techniques.
Gene editing (GE): Gene editing is a precise form of genetic modification/genetic engineering that enables targeted changes to the DNA sequence.
New genomic techniques (NGT):New genome techniques cover a diverse collection of techniques, all of which have different levels of specificity or precision. All NGTs are techniques used to modify the genome of an organism.
Source: Aotearoa Circle report on modern genetic technology.
AgResearch principal scientist Dr Nick Roberts seems a tad defensive when interviewed about the long-running high metabolisable energy (HME) ryegrass research programme aimed at reducing livestock emissions and boosting farm productivity.
AgResearch scientists have been working on the genetically
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What’s at stake: The long-running research programme into genetically modified HME ryegrass is reaching a pivotal stage of animal feeding trials in New Zealand but critics say it won’t deliver the promised gains in methane reduction on farms.
Background: AgResearch did field trials on the ryegrass in the US because of New Zealand’s restrictive GE laws but a planned trial in Australia was withdrawn following a protein problem in the ryegrass that has been addressed. Ongoing funding is now a real issue.
Main players: AgResearch, Nick Roberts, Grasslanz Technology, Jack Caradus, Claire Bleakley, GE-Free New Zealand, PGG Wrightson Seeds.
Quick explainer:
Genetic modification organisms (GMO): any organism that has been genetically modified through any genetic engineering technique, including transgenic organisms.
Genetic modification (GM): The act of utilising genetic technology to modify the genome of an organism, also referred to as genetic engineering. This doesn’t include traditional breeding techniques.
Gene editing (GE): Gene editing is a precise form of genetic modification/genetic engineering that enables targeted changes to the DNA sequence.
New genomic techniques (NGT):New genome techniques cover a diverse collection of techniques, all of which have different levels of specificity or precision. All NGTs are techniques used to modify the genome of an organism.
Source: Aotearoa Circle report on modern genetic technology.
