Andrew Allan received his PhD in Biochemistry at Cambridge University. He is now a Professor with the University of Auckland, and runs a group at Plant and Food Research. He has twice received New Zealand’s top prize for plant biology (NZSPP, Roger Slack Award), as well as the Chinese Academy of Science President’s International Award.

He is currently Programme Leader of a project which aims to speed up breeding of perennial plants by using rapid flowering and gene editing. These “New Breeding Technologies (NBTs)” produce new cultivars with large changes in consumer and grower traits. They differ from GM crops in that no new DNA is introduced. World-wide, national regulatory authorities struggle with how to define (or even measure) these plants; this provides both a barrier to adoption (New Zealand) or an opportunity to be first to market (America and Australia).