A team of experts discuss the future of gene editing to control pests, and how it connects with mātauranga Māori. A highlight of the NZ International Science Festival from July 2021.

"Gene editing does feature in narratives. What I'm wary of is people running off and weaponising that" - Tame Malcolm

Listen to a team of Kiwi bio-heritage experts discuss the future of genetics in pest control, and how that connects with mātauranga Māori.

Professor Peter Dearden, Tame Malcolm, Aroha Mead, Professor Phil Lester and Brent Beaven on the role of genetics in Aotearoa's pest control

This conversation was a highlight of the 2021 NZ International Science Festival.

Highlights

The panellists are in agreement that the use of gene editing to control introduced pests could become as polarising as, say, mask-wearing and vaccinations in the Covid-19 era. They are thankful that mainstream political and civic discussion has remained focused on scientific matters rather than being swayed too much by social media. But what do to, when confronted with those who deny science?

Aroha Mead:

It's really important to be non-judgemental. People have their views, and you may not like them. They might be illogical to you, but they are logical to them.

What I'm more concerned with, though, is the value system that created the problem that we have . We're dealing with the outcome of a whole bunch of decisions made by humans about importing species into this country that have run havoc. So we don't want that same value system to be the decision-makers for what we have to do to fix the problem that they created.

So along with this technology, there has to be a total reform, a decolonisation of our conservation system. There has to be a strengthening of the role of Māori hapu and iwi in managing lands and resources. We just have to get out of the way we have done conservation here because it hasn't worked. It simply hasn't worked.

Peter Dearden:

Is it more ethical for us to genetically drive possums to extinction, or to treat them with 1080?

Phil Lester:

The mouse plagues in Australia occurring now happens over there every few years, depending often on the weather conditions. Gene drives are being suggested as a potential approach, and animal ethics groups are coming out in support and saying, "Look, this is a much better way of controlling mice populations." So there are groups out there thinking gene drives could be an ethical solution to pest problems.

Brent Beaven: …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details