Fed: Biotech control as important as in nuclear indust
Australian Associated Press
Mittwoch, 8. Dezember 1999 03:36:00
Copyright 1999 The Australian Associated Press. Redistribution unauthorised.
By Janelle Miles
BRISBANE, Dec 8 AAP - Australian governments had been dragging
their heels on biotechnology regulations which were as important as
nuclear restrictions, a lawyer said today.
"We've got a rapidly developing industry with risks associated
with it," said James Bremen, of Brisbane law firm McCullough
Robertson.
"The unique nature of the industry demands special regulation
because, much like the nuclear energy industry, the consequence of
error can be fatal."
Mr Bremen said in this month's Queensland Law Society journal,
Proctor, research was progressing at a significant rate but was
largely unregulated.
"If you look at the developments that we've seen in respect of
the biotechnology industry, two years is a millennium," he told
AAP.
"It's moving at a rapid pace. The legislation needs to move at
that pace also."
Mr Bremen said the issue needed to be addressed at state and
federal government level.
"We've got laboratories across the country with controls that
aren't adequate," he said.
"Whilst the (federal) government has announced an intention to
regulate the area, little apart from rhetoric has followed.
"Because significant health and environmental risks may be
associated with the industry an effective system of regulation is a
priority."
Mr Bremen said one major concern arising from genetic research
into animals was the potential for a virus to "jump" a species and
transform a virus harmless to humans into one for which there was
no cure.
"Doctors in the United States are confident that hearts grown in
pigs transplanted into humans would be successful," he said in the
journal article.
"Speculation now is that this could lead to the establishment of
farms where genetically compatible parts are grown in animals whose
genes have been manipulated.
"The risk of disease in this process is a major issue."
A spokeswoman for the federal government's interim office of the
gene technology regulator said a discussion paper was released in
October.
"Draft legislation for a national regulatory system should be
released by the end of the year," the spokeswoman said.
AAP jhm/sd/jm