Learning from Failure: Why NZ’s GE Animal Experiments Demand a New Direction
A new report from GE-FREE NZ on genetically engineered (GE) animals in New Zealand has laid bare a confronting truth: after more than two decades of research, the results have been almost entirely failures, for science, for animal welfare, and for our national values.
Between 2015 and 2024, AgResearch’s Ruakura facility ran a series of GE and gene-edited animal experiments on cattle, goats, and sheep. The aim was to produce new traits such as “climate-smart” cattle, pharmaceutical milk proteins, or animals for human organ transplants. Instead, the projects ended in high rates of abortion, deformity, and chronic illness, with nearly all GE animal lines ending in mass euthanasia.
What Went Wrong
High mortality and deformity rates: In some trials, up to 99 per cent of pregnancies were aborted, and only a handful of offspring survived to weaning.
Severe welfare failures: Surviving animals suffered from organ damage, reproductive failure, blindness, respiratory distress, and deformities.
No positive outcomes: None of the projects achieved a viable product or commercial benefit. Many ended with animals euthanised and buried in “offal pits.”
Uncertain environmental effects: Long-term impacts of disposal and contamination are still unknown.
A Breach of Our Values
The organic sector measures innovation through four interconnected principles — Health, Ecology, Fairness, and Care. These principles provide a useful lens for policy reform.
Health: GE animal trials compromised animal wellbeing and produced no health or food-safety benefit.
Ecology: Genetic modification risks contaminating ecosystems and diverts investment from proven, low-impact farming solutions.
Fairness: Animals and taxpayers carried the cost while society gained nothing. Transparency and accountability remain weak.
Care: True science should reflect compassion and responsibility. These experiments ignored both.
Time for Policy to Catch Up
With the Gene Technology Bill now under review, New Zealand faces a defining choice: double down on a failed model or move toward one that aligns with our ethics, markets, and environment.
Policy directions that reflect leadership and care:
End GE animal research permanently — align with global best practice on animal ethics.
Strengthen oversight and transparency for any ongoing gene-technology research.
Redirect public funding toward organic, regenerative, and agroecological research that delivers measurable benefits for climate, productivity, and rural communities.
Adopt a precautionary principle — innovation must prove it improves animal welfare, environmental health, and social good before it proceeds.
Leading with Integrity
New Zealand’s organic and regenerative sectors already demonstrate what ethical, science-based farming looks like, systems that respect life, improve soil and animal health, and deliver genuine value to people and planet.
The lessons from the GE animal trials are clear: innovation without ethics leads nowhere. It’s time for policy to reflect what New Zealanders value: integrity, transparency, and care for all living things.