Outdoor Gene Technology Sprays
Sign the Petition to Halt the Reckless Gene Technology Bill
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Overview of the Oral Submissions on the Gene Technology Bill
GE Sprays in Produce Aisles
Petition to Halt the Gene Technology Bill and to set up a Commission of Inquiry.
The closing date has been extended to the 30th June 2025. Direct link to petition.
1. Introduction to Outdoor GT Sprays
If broad categories of gene technology are deregulated, we could see whole fields sprayed with the stuff and ecosystems compromised. Associated problems may not be noticed until years later when we become aware of such things as a significant decline in spider numbers or insects that pollinate, or a sharp increase in cancer rates near sprayed areas or cancer linked to certain GE foods.
2. Jon Carapiet’s Presentation before Subcommittee B
Here is a clip on Outdoor GT sprays from Jon’s personal presentation.
From the clip:
...there is now technology that you can externally gene edit. You can spray gene editors actively in the field...
His source: The biosafety experts at the University of Canterbury.
You can listen to Jon Carapiet's oral submissions here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/10758257?video=1058045632. Jon, on behalf of Brand NZ, presents at 1:06:00 and he presents his personal one at 1:18:10.
Dr Hamish Campbell’s question on GT sprays
Dr Hamish Campbell (chair Subcommittee B) asks Jon the following question at the end of his presentation:
What technology can possibly be used to be sprayed on crops to make it genetically modified?
Unfortunately, Jon didn't get a fair chance to answer before Hamish interrupted (after about 20 sec) and stated that he thought Jon was confusing gene silencing with gene editing. Hamish stated if you spray something on, you are not getting the whole organism so you are gene silencing not gene modifying so there is a technical difference there.
You can listen to that segment here.
If Hamish had listened to Jon, he and therefore other members of the committee could have learnt more about the potentially frightening and harmful consequences of gene technology sprays.
The slide Jon referred to in the above video clips.
Jon's slide refers to the article Scientists Sound the Alarm Over Outdoor Gene Editing Pesticides. See here.
From the article:
Deregulation could mean humans and animals are exposed to gene-altering pesticides with no regulatory oversight, with potentially deadly consequences.
The problem is that these genetic pesticides could also "edit" the genes of what scientists call non-target organisms – i.e. people, animals, and insects in the environment could become collateral damage. "Editing" these organisms’ genes means silencing or disrupting their normal functioning. And the deregulation of gene editing that is occurring and being aggressively promoted around the globe means that these products could be used in open fields with no prior risk assessment, traceability, or monitoring.
The article is based on this study Predicted multispecies unintended effects from outdoor genome editing, by a group of international scientists. See here.
Definition of Genome Editing from AI
One extremely worrying highlight from the study is new products for outdoor use of genome editing cannot control exposures to non-target organisms.
From the abstract:
CRISPR/Cas9, a potent genetic engineering tool widely adopted in agriculture, is capable of introducing new characteristics into plants on a large scale…. Despite its remarkable efficiency, concerns have arisen regarding unintended consequences in uncontrolled environments. ...off-target effects were predicted in multiple species commonly found in the agroecosystem, including humans....
For instance, some of these off-target effects were unintended changes to the central nervous system in the honeybee and several pathways related to cancer and hormone metabolism in humans.
3. Prof. Jack Heinemann on Genetic Engineering Outside in the Environment
You will even be able to dust your cat using genetic engineering tools to modify the microbes or fleas on your cat or the cat itself.
Listen to what Prof. Jack Heinemann, a geneticist from Canterbury University, says on the subject and more in this short clip from Unintended consequences of GE and GMOs with Prof Jack Heinemann
Transcript:
I can do this now. I can do this genetic engineering using these tools outside. I can spray them on a field from an airplane and they will work. I can dust my cat with them and modify the microbes on the cat or the fleas or the cat itself.
They are very efficient tools and the patent literature is full of products in pipeline for development for precisely the purpose of applying those tools in the open environment, in real time where there would be absolutely no control of all the different exposures, all the different species of organisms that would be exposed at the same time.
In the U.S., there is already released on the market a pesticide based on, in this case, gene silencing techniques. But biochemistry is so similar to gene editing we can kind of group them together for this discussion. That pesticide delivers the active ingredient, in this case, a small nucleic molecule, a gene-like molecule, that when an insect takes it up it causes the genes that are similar to it in the insect to be turned off and that kills the insect.
Now, if you could control just the intended insect being exposed to this molecule then perhaps this is a great thing, right? So if you are after your aphid or whatever it is, Colorado potato beetle, if that's what you're after and you could so precisely define what would be exposed that might be a great thing. But you can't.
And in studies like this, these kinds of molecules move up atrophic pathways so the predators of these things can also get adverse and sometimes lethal reactions from their exposure.
Also, in the following clips copied from a previous Flag n Fix article GE Contamination, Prof. Heinemann talks about the new genetic engineering tools that allow entire fields to be sprayed with genome editors—a recipe for disaster.
For instance, here is another clip from the same interview. Prof. Heinemann talks about an experiment with a plant genetically engineered to kill aphids. The aphids died as expected when they munched on the plants. However, a natural predator of the aphids, a spider, on drinking the guttation water, i.e., the water that came out of the leaves, also died. Deregulation will allow such harmful, unintended consequences to go unnoticed.
You can listen to the entire talk here.
Conclusion
Genome editing is destructive. Spraying fields with unnatural substances can and will result in harm. With such gene technologies, no living thing is protected. Unlike what happens naturally in nature, with these technologies you can release billions of these gene altering substances all at once. It is all about scale. One cigarette seldom does any lasting harm, but the more you scale consumption up, the more likely you will end up with lung cancer. Unlike cigarettes though, we will not be able to avoid GE contaminated products.
Additional Information
New report shows dismal market reality of New GMOs. NZ is certainly not being left behind by our current regulations—in fact they are saving us from costly mistakes and harm. See here.
Despite the hype and the political pressure to deregulate these genetically engineered crops, the report finds that only three New GMOs are currently cultivated and not a single crop has contributed to sustainability goals….
Commenting on New GMOs' record of failure, Hans Eisenbeis, Director of Mission and Messaging at the Non-GMO Project, said: “Efforts to launch the next generation of GMO plants using gene-editing technologies like CRISPR just aren’t getting off the ground, despite permissive regulations (such as those in the USA), exaggerated sustainability claims, and billions of dollars in public and private investment.”
On RCR with Paul Brennan, Tiffany Tompkins, CEO of Organics Aotearoa NZ, talks about how the rapidly growing organic sector could be derailed by the Gene Technology Bill’s allowance for outdoor GMO releases. This will jeopardise high-value export markets. Listen or watch here.