Scientists have slammed the “senseless” destruction of hundreds of genetically-engineered pine trees during a break-in at a Rotorua plantation.
Scion planted 375 radiata pines last year to test herbicide resistance and study reproductive development.
The company said damage to the trees, which occurred over the Easter Weekend, will cost around $400,000.
Scion Chief Executive Dr Warren Parker describes this as a blatant act of vandalism designed to end Scion’s genetic modification research programme.
“The field trial was approved under one of the strictest regulatory regimes in the world, and our team has fully complied with the containment controls. Despite this, our research opponents were determined to stop us and used criminal means to do so,” Dr Parker said.
Most of the trees were less than 1m high, and were part of two experiments due to run for two to three years, one testing herbicide resistance and the other was looking at reproductive development.
Scion said not all the trees were genetically modified as the experiments included some control trees.
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