Development and use of gene transfer in New Zealand

D.W. Bullock

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Lincoln University, Canterbury

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1990, 50: 191-196

Gene transfer offers vast potential for improvements in animal agriculture. Improvements in quantity, quality and efficiency of production as well as entirely new forms of production can be envisage.

Realising this potential, however, is hampered by dilution and duplication of effort, an acute shortage of trained personnel, and the perceived gulf between scientific developments and the launching of a product on the market.

Overcoming these obstacles will require participation in decision-making by experts from other fields as well as science, and national co- ordination of effort coupled with identifiable, committed funding from government and the private sector. Producer groups and professional societies such as the New Zealand Society of Animal Production should play a leading role in these developments.

Keywords: NZSAPAB; Biotechnology; transgenic animals; science policy; research support; education

Download abstract in text format
Last Updated 25-01-1997