Researcher says modern bioethics council needed

Writing about the implications of the Gene Technology Bill currently before Parliament, University of Auckland Faculty of Science doctoral candidate Lauren Baal stated “what is missing from the current debate is the creation of a place where ethical, cultural and societal questions can be examined openly and independently”. 

She noted that, following the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification in 2001, the then-government set up Toi te Taiao, the Bioethics Council.

“Its role was not to decide whether individual projects should be approved, instead it was charged with helping New Zealanders, regulators and policy-makers think through the cultural, ethical and spiritual dimensions of emerging technologies. It encouraged public dialogue, developed guidance for policy-makers and examined issues ranging from nanotechnology to human-animal gene transfer,” Ms Baal said.

“The council was disestablished in 2009 and, ever since, decisions about new organisms have largely been framed as technical matters best left to scientific experts and regulators. Technical and scientific expertise is essential. But questions about values and ethics can’t be left to scientific expertise alone,” she said.

“This has been clear in some of the controversies currently surrounding the gene tech bill. Debates about kaitiakitanga, Te Tiriti obligations, environmental stewardship and acceptable levels of risk are ultimately debates about values. Scientific evidence can inform those discussions, but it cannot resolve them.”

Ms Baal suggested that a “modern bioethics council, drawing expertise from te ao Māori, medicine, law, philosophy, environmental science and public policy, wouldn’t tell New Zealand what choices to make. It would help us have the conversations necessary to make those choices well”.

Last year, the InterChurch Bioethics Council and the Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics said that “a genuine assessment of the use of gene technology needs to balance economic benefits and scientific progress with human wellbeing and the wellbeing of all life”.

“Ultimately, what is required is a robust regulatory process that all New Zealanders can have confidence in, and that is transparent,” the Church bodies stated.

Parliament’s Health Committee delivered its report on the Gene Technology Bill in October 2025. The Bill is yet to have its second reading.

FULL STORY

NZ gene tech law rewrite has a gaping ethics gap (By Lauren Baal/Newsroom)

Kiwis urged to educate themselves on gene technology – CathNews New Zealand