All that you want to Know about Bacillus Thuringiensis Brinjal – Bt Brinjal

Brinjal (king of Vegetables) has been in India for over 4,000 years. It accounts for half a million hectares of land in India with an output of 8.4 million tonne.

Bt brinjal, a genetically modified strain created in collaboration with American multinational Monsanto, claims to improve yields and help the agriculture sector.

However, the debate over the safety of Bt brinjal continues with mixed views from scientists working for the government, farmers and environment activists.

·         Environment activists says the effect of GM (genetically modified) crops on rats have shown to be fatal for lungs and kidneys. It is dangerous to introduce these experimental foods into the market without proper research, they say.

·         A study by French scientist Gilles-Eric Seralini says the tests conducted by Mahyco (Indian partner of Monsanto), the company producing Bt brinjal, were simply not valid and raised serious health concerns.

·         Besides the environment hazards, activists allege that the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has shown a bias towards companies like the Monsanto.

·         This would be a big threat to India's agriculture with MNCs charging Indian farmers for their seeds. The supply of seeds will be regulated and thus costlier. Indian farmers would have to depend on MNCs for seeds.

·         Bt cotton has already been declared a farce with crop failures and mass suicides of farmers in India. What will be the fate of Indian agriculture, farmers and consumers if Bt brinjal and other genetically modified crops are introduced

The issue over Bt brinjal gets worse with central government ministers contradicting each other.

·         Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar reportedly said the committee's decision was final.

·         Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that "the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee may well be a statutory body but when crucial issues of human safety are concerned, the government has every right. . . to take the final decision."

·         Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan, said he stood by the committee's findings.

In a GM product, the genetic material is altered to benefit the consumer and producer, as it is pest-resistant and promises to offer a higher yield.

·         Environmental activists have over the years questioned the bio-safety of these products and pointed out that this is a form 'bio-terror' that should be curbed at all costs.

·         If the GEAC decision if approved by the government, it would also lead to other GM food crops, like rice, maize, soyabean, etc in the country.

·         Professor P M Bhargava, GEAC's only independent expert, appointed by the Supreme Court said that a majority of the necessary biosafety tests were skipped before the clearance was given.

Meanwhile, the European Union has followed strict norms and countries in the European Union have banned the genetically modified food crops.

Meanwhile, Mahyco  said this will help millions of brinjal farmers who have been suffering from the havoc caused by the Brinjal Fruit and Shoot Borer (BFSB). Bt brinjal will help them tackle this pest in an environment-friendly manner and increase yields and farm income

The making of Bt brinjal involves insertion of a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis into the DNA or genetic code of the vegetable to produce pesticidal toxins in every cell.

·         According to Gilles-Eric Seralini "You may not be aware that 99.9 per cent of edible genetically modified organisms are designed to contain toxic pesticides whose effect on the human body and the environment are not known."

o    "Everything is kept confidential by the biotech companies whose data governments accept without validation. We need many more tests on the environmental and health-safety aspects of GMOs and it should be assessed independently. We want science to be used for the benefit of people, not companies," he added.

o    "Bt brinjal has been modified to produce an unknown chimeric insecticide toxin. In the toxicity tests on target and non-target insects, this chimeric toxin was not used. Instead, an improper Cry1Ac toxin was used because this control was easier. Also, Bt brinjal is resistant to antibiotics, at least the well-known kanamycin," he explained.

Bt brinjal has not been properly tested for health or environmental safety. In feeding trials, numerous significant differences were noted compared to the best corresponding non-Bt controls: Bt brinjal appears to contain 15% less kcal/100 gm, has a different alkaloid content, and 16-17 mg/kg Bt insecticide toxin poorly characterized for side effects, and produced by the plant genetically modified for this.

·         GM-fed rats had diarrhoea, higher water consumption, liver weight decrease as well as relative liver to body weight ratio decrease.

·         It may cause diseases like swollen face, itching skins, allergies, et cetera.

·         Moths and butterflies would die and may led to their extinction, if they consume the pollen grains of Bt brinjal

·         Environmentalists have called for a moratorium on commercial GM approvals as she said "Bt brinjal is a test case for the future of our food, our democracy, our science. That is why it should not be introduced in our farms and our kitchens without a proper reassessment, especially in the context of false assumptions made to present Bt. Brinjal as the only alternative available ignoring the proven agro ecological approach to pest control."

·         Above all, to avoid conflict of interest, developers of GM crops should not be engaged in the biosafety testing, they argue.

Courtesy: The Indian News Papers