SYDNEY – Environmental activists broke into an Australian government research farm Thursday and destroyed an experimental crop of genetically-modified wheat in protest at the project’s safety.
Armed with weed trimmers, three Greenpeace activists scaled a fence at the Canberra facility in the early hours of the morning and razed the crop, which had been modified to lower its glycemic index.
The government science agency running the trials, CSIRO, confirmed there had been “a break-in overnight at their crop trial site” and it was assessing the damage.
“The police, and the government’s gene technology regulatory authority … have been informed and are inspecting the site,” a CSIRO spokesman told AFP.
“CSIRO is currently assessing the damage to the trial crops and considering next steps.”
Greenpeace said the activists, three women, wore hazardous materials suits to keep them from carrying GM organisms out of the site, and were motivated by concerns about the trial’s safety.
“We had no choice but to take action to bring an end to this experiment,” said campaigner Laura Kelly.
“GM has never been proven safe to eat and once released in open experiments, it will contaminate. This is about the protection of our health, the protection of our environment and the protection of our daily bread.”