June 9, 2003

New Zealand Herald via Agnet June 9/03

New Zealand Herald Reporter Simon Collins writes that Friday night's plane crash has wiped out most of the executive team of New Zealand's only organisation known to be planning field trials of genetically modified plants.

New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research is about to apply to the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) for a permit to do field trials in Canterbury of onions that have been genetically modified to survive the weedkiller Roundup.

The application will be the first since the law was changed last year, and is expected to be followed by applications for commercial release of genetically modified (GM) potatoes and other crops after the moratorium on GM products ends in October.

The president of the Royal Society of New Zealand and chief executive of Genesis, Dr Jim Watson, was cited as saying Crop and Food was probably the country's most advanced plant GM group, adding, "They were very vocal and to the forefront of the debate on GM science and what we need to do in terms of our plant business to make it grow. To have their leaders taken out is just tragic. It is a loss to the country and the science community."

The crash killed four of the institute's top seven managers: its research manager, Dr Desma Hogg; strategy manager Katherine Carman, a highly regarded science strategist who was poached from Britain's Ministry of Agriculture; marketing manager Alistair Clough and human resources manager Margaret Viles.

The others killed were communications manager Howard Bezar and business managers Andy Rosanowski and Richard Finch.

No actual researchers were on the aircraft, and chief executive Paul Tocker said the onion application would go ahead as planned.

Life Sciences Network director Francis Wevers said the crash would have "a dramatic impact on the commercialisation of New Zealand science out of that institute".

"Scientific capability is very good in this country. It's the nexus between scientific capability and commercial nous and entrepreneurship that is part of what is being stripped out here," he said.