Nats target laws on gene editing

National wants to overhaul the act that has long regulated gene editing.

Party leader Simon Bridges and science and innovation spokeswoman Parmjeet Parmar yesterday said it plans, if elected next year, to review the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act.

The news coincides with the advent of reforms in Australia, which effectively deregulated gene editing in animals, plants, and human cell lines that didn’t introduce new genetic material.

In NZ, strict rules under the HSNO Act have tightly controlled the use of gene engineering and genetically modified organisms since 2003.

Parmar said National would make “significant changes” to modernise the act, ensuring the regulation was proportionate to risk. “We will be taking into consideration all the feedback from the scientific community as well as the wider public.”

She said biotechnology offered benefits in areas ranging from heath to conservation and climate change.

“AgResearch has developed a high metabolisable energy (HME) rye grass that can reduce on-farm methane emissions by around 23 per cent . . . [but] this research has to be field trialled overseas” because of tight rules.

Prime Minister’s chief science advisor Professor Juliet Gerrard has also shared with Jacinda Ardern her belief our laws are no longer fit for purpose.

The Government has no current work to review the HSNO Act, but Environment Minister David Parker has asked officials to advise where lower regulatory hurdles ought to be considered to enable medical uses.