Moratoriums on the commercial planting of GM canola in most states will not necessarily prevent the development of other gene technologies that have higher perceived benefits and fewer perceived risks, according to Craig Cormick, the Manager of Public Awareness for the Australian Government agency, Biotechnology Australia.

Speaking today at a forum at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics in Adelaide, Mr Cormick said, “There are risks and benefits associated with all new technologies, including gene technology, and they need to be properly assessed before making decisions about whether they are right for Australia.”

Some biotechnology applications that people may need to make decisions about include:

• Biotechnology control of pest animals

• Vegetables engineered to reduce cancer or heart disease

• Salt-tolerant plants

• Larger and faster-breeding fish and other seafoods, and

• Plants that produce detergents, lubricants or plastics

“Unfortunately discussions on gene technology tend to be polarised into single arguments, for or against, but people really need access to the full facts and arguments to help them make more informed decisions,” Mr Cormick said.

He also said, “While state moratoriums mean genetically modified (GM) canola will not be commercially grown in most states in Australia in the short-term, this does not mean that other applications might not be more widely embraced in the future.”

“GM cotton that has been modified to have built-in pesticides is already widely grown across Australia with broad support, and farmers and consumers generally see many more benefits than risks,” he said. “Other applications currently under development that may have higher perceived benefits include many health and medical applications, more nutritious foods, and plants with built-in resistance to plant viruses.”

Other GM applications that Biotechnology Australia surveys have shown are perceived to have higher perceived benefits than risks includes making plants more resistant to pests and using human genes to develop medicines and vaccines.

However applications where the public still see more risks than benefits include the use of gene technology in food and drink production and using human genes in animals for growing organs.

Biotechnology Australia has produced several fact sheets to help inform community discussion, including Arguments for and against genetic modification and Current and potential biotechnology applications, which are available on the Biotechnology Australia web site: www.biotechnology.gov.au.

Companion documents in PDF format:
- Arguments for and against genetic modification
- Current and potential biotechnology applications