Author(s): Heinemann, J.A.
Article Type: Report
Record ID: 954
Abstract: This is my expert opinion based on experience and research (full CV attached in Appendix One) in relation to the questions posed by the Commission and outlined in the Summary below. All assertions I make and conclusions that I draw are my opinion. In brief, I am a professor of genetics and molecular biology primarily employed by the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, but I consult with permission under the name Gendora, Ltd. (http://gendora.net/). Previously, I was a staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health, Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the USA. My PhD in Molecular Biology was conferred by the University of Oregon, Eugene, USA and my dual undergraduate degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology by the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. I represented the University of Canterbury at the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification. I served a Parliamentary Select Committee as an expert witness on “Corngate”. I am listed as a United Nations Expert in Biosafety, serve on the Ad Hoc Technical Experts Group for the Protocol on Biosafety (United Nations), and have authored nearly one hundred peer-reviewed or scholarly publications in books and journals such as Science, Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Trends in Biotechnology and others. I have provided expert advice to agencies of the USA, New Zealand and Norwegian Governments. I have no financial conflicts of interest in this matter. As far as I am aware, I hold no investments in Inghams Enterprises or its competitors and I have never received research funding from Inghams Enterprises or its competitors.
The Commerce Commission requested that I research and report to the Commission on whether animals exposed to feed containing genetically modified material (“GM feed”) do in fact contain “no GM [genetically modified] ingredients”. The provision of expert opinion to the Commission was sought in relation to ‘Inghams Enterprises (NZ) Pty Limited chicken product/s as advertised as containing “no added hormones, GM [genetically modified] ingredients” and sold in New Zealand. I was to comment on (including comment on the likelihood of the event occurring) with regard to GM plants used in food or feed: • could DNA from GM plants be transferred to the animal; • could GM plants be incorporated into other products sold as chicken products, including breading or stuffing; • could proteins from GM plants be transferred to the product or could the GM feed alter metabolites in the animal; • could the GM feed cause physiological or immunological responses in the animal?
Keywords: genetically modified material, GM feed, New Zealand, GM plants, DNA, animal, chicken products, proteins, metabolites, physiological, immunological
Citation: Heinemann, J.A., 2009. Report on animals exposed to GM ingredients in animal feed. Prepared for the Commerce Commission of New Zealand, 24 July.
