Proposed NZ Gene Tech Bill: Scientists say risk tiering framework is not risk proportionate.

Science, stewardship & scalability.

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Proposed NZ Gene Tech Bill: Scientists say risk tiering framework is not risk proportionate.

'The scientific case is not made for the proposed reforms to gene technology law.' Brief summary & 8 questions for co-authors of a paper from NZ's Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety (INBI).

PSGRNZ

Feb 01, 2025

Transcript

Interview with Professor Jack Heinemann, Director of the Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety (INBI), Tessa Hiscox and Andrew McCabe. Based at the Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety (INBI), at New Zealand's University of Canterbury, & some of the co-authors of INBI's Submission to the Parliament Health Committee on the Gene Technology Bill 2024.

Authors: Jack A. Heinemann (PhD), Brigitta Kurenbach (PhD), Tessa C. Hiscox (BHons), Andrew W. McCabe (MSc), and Sophie Walker (PhD) Corresponding author: Jack Heinemann (jack.heinemann@canterbury.ac.nz), 03 336 95597.

(Prepared in accordance with the Critic and Conscience of Society and Academic Freedom Policy (2024). This may not be the opinion of the University of Canterbury.)

Submission PDF available via Professor Jack Heinemann's research profile.

Also accessible via our Physicians & Scientists for Global Responsibility New Zealand (PSGR) website.

For an audio version of this interview: PSGRNZ.Substack.com

Submissions to the Gene Technology Bill can be made by Feb, 17, 2025.

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Discussion about this podcast

Science, stewardship & scalability.

Doctors & scientists talking about how policy-makers steward tech, pollution & open-ended systems to protect human & environmental health. Discussions traverse health, environment, agriculture, technology and governance. They shed light on why linear, technical approaches to risk assessment & regulation often create more problems in open-ended, biologically complex environments than they solve.

How can we identify & prevent tipping points to build resilience & protect health – from soil biology; to water systems; to our children and young people - who are being diagnosed with preventable conditions, at younger and younger ages?

Importantly: When policy and decisions around new laws rest upon science claims, how do 'we' create governance structures to prioritise the independent science & research that might inform policy & triangulate industry claims?

There's lots to talk about!

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