Source: TV News Now (NZ) – 24 June 2019 There’s growing concern New Zealand will fall behind other countries unless the Government updates genetic modification laws. The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act hasn’t been changed since 1998. Plant and Food Research chief scientist Richard Newcomb is the latest to join the call for a public information campaign and discussion on gene editing, a technology that is more precise than previous genetic modification and doesn’t require the insertion of foreign DNA.