In his column Biosafety Now, Dr. Simon Wain-Hobson revisits controversial gain of function research conducted in 2014 funded by US NIH contract HHSN26620070001 which successfully managed to transfer the H7N1 avian (bird flu) virus from ostriches to ferrets.
Once transferred, the virus established itself in the ‘captive’ lab ferrets sufficiently to cause airborne transmission to other ferrets without loss of virulence. H7N1 is as deadly for humans as Ebola, but up until now has been rarely contracted. The implications of a biotech research program which transformed the virus sufficiently to enable airborne transmission between mammals will not be lost on any of our readers. This is just another of the almost pandemics that gain of function research regularly creates. As we reported in our article “Government Assurances of Biotech Safety Are Worthless. Here is the Evidence.“, exotic gain of function experimentation is still continuing around the world to this day, whilst lab escapes are routine.
However, biotechnology researchers are undaunted by the risks to public health, like Margaret Thatcher “they are not for changing”. One can only presume that they have confidence that there will be enough body bags to go around when the inevitable next pandemic happens.
The UK Guardian reports that a 51 year old career criminal ironically called James Farthing who won US$167 million in the lottery a year ago has been arrested three times since for petty theft. He has been unable to change the direction of his life even though he has the material means to do so. “A leopard cannot change its spots”, nothing could be more true of the mad disregard of risk that has continued on from the pandemic. The NZ Herald records an interview with Labour Leader Chris Hipkins who says he has no regrets that he failed to inform the public of the significant risk of heart disease that teenagers faced following the mRNA Covid vaccine. A matter that was flagged by the recent Royal Commission Report. Hipkins excused himself saying:
“In terms of my conscience, I never communicated medical advice around vaccination. That was always done by relevant health practitioners, including the director-general of health and the director of public health. I did not communicate, at any point, right the way through, that information other than reiterating the high-level messages around making sure you’re making informed decisions and consulting with medical practitioners.”
Of course the ‘high level messaging’ that Hipkins is referring to was his constant encouragement for everyone including school children to get mRNA vaccines immediately on pain of losing their job or their ability to participate in social activities. If that is not offering medical advice, I don’t know what is. Hipkins appeared before the Royal Commission to answer questions, but incredibly was allowed to do so in private.
This brings me to the heart of it, should matters involving biotechnology experimentation be allowed the privilege of secrecy when the risks to the public are huge and potentially deadly? In Hipkins case, his blasé denial of any responsibility for the lives of teenagers has a hollow ring to it which thankfully has begun to echo around the circular corridors of power in the Beehive. Foreign Minister Winston Peters said:
“To attempt to deny these facts publicly, and rely on the inept Inquiry report, points to this being a disgraceful cover up – as it now seems to be.”
The Hipkins interview did not cover the unprecedented scale of the problem of Covid vaccine injury or the suffering of those affected who have been largely ignored. An article in the UK Telegraph this week is entitled: ‘My organs shut down, now I’m in a wheelchair’: The lives ruined by Covid jabs. It concludes:
“Six years later, the true scale of the vaccines’ side effects is emerging. Yet those coping with life-changing conditions remain ignored”.
Editing of genetic functionality of the sort that Covid vaccines deliberately initiates can be devastating. The damage can be apparent immediately or its true extent can even surface years later as a contributor or cause of a cardiac event, a cancer, a neurological condition or a mental illness as has been repeatedly reported in published studies we have referenced in prior articles.
In a statement worthy of Pontius Pilate, Hipkins tells us his conscience is clear, his hands are clean. No apology, no call for more openness in future. Instead he glibly told the Herald that he didn’t publicly address the issue when the myocarditis cases started adding up because everyone was already vaccinated. “So it wasn’t sort of material information at that point”, Hipkins said. The use of the term ‘sort of’ speaks volumes on the omission of truth that has become the common coin of our politicians and many others in authority.
The secrecy doesn’t stop at medical experimentation. Genetically altered ingredients and processing aids have entered the food chain unlabelled. A paper published in August 2025 by Nature Microbiology is entitled “A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation“. When you next see a label promising chocolate flavour you won’t know whether it comes from a genetic laboratory or not. Given the public addiction to chocolate and the rise in international cocoa prices, it is odds on that GE synthetic chocolate will rapidly fill our supermarket shelves. The UK Guardian reports ‘I took two bites and had to spit it out’: candy makers are phasing out real cocoa in chocolate‘. It is not just the chocolate in candy bars but many other traditional natural ingredients used in confectionery that are being phased out. This is just plain old food adulteration like sawdust and alum in bread in the 19th century. That was stopped by government action on food purity. We need to demand complete transparency. Genetic engineering and biotechnology are not safe and are not the way forward. It is long past time for governments to regulate ultra processed synthetic foods.
A key component of biotechnology experimentation is an assumed right of secrecy. The industry wants this because they know the public would be rightfully concerned if gain of function experimentation was occurring nearby to their home or place of work. In fact the media are failing to report what is already taking place. Overwhelmingly, market analysis shows us that the public generally avoids novel GE synthetic food ingredients if they are identified on labels. The biotech industry also argues that they have a right to secrecy in order to protect commercial secrets from rivals. To this day the exact ingredients of Covid vaccines and the routine levels of contamination remain secret. Those tasked with protecting public health at every level from the Prime Minister to GPs were adamant in denying the novel nature and risks of mRNA vaccines. They are still refusing to publicly acknowledge the extent of adverse effects. Like the Kentucky lottery winner, many benefited from a pandemic financial windfall, but having started down the GE medicine trail they are unable to change tack even though the risks are now known. There is no gain saying the truth that public health and a right to informed choice should always take precedence over commercial secrecy. The more so with products that alter the natural genetic structure of life.
Guy Hatchard PhD was formerly a senior manager at Genetic ID a global food testing and safety company (now known as FoodChain ID). You can visit his website hatchardreport.com or subscribe to his Substack.
He is the author of ‘Your DNA Diet: Leveraging the Power of Consciousness To Heal Ourselves and Our World. An Ayurvedic Blueprint For Health and Wellness’.
