This is in response to your editorial “Genes in a twist” (October 30) that dealt with genetically engineered crops. If the intention of good journalism is to communicate facts with clarity, then your editorial was designed to mislead since it was factually wrong. You say that the Green Revolution of the ’60s was also the result of genetic modification. That, in fact, was simple cross-breeding. Today, the term “modified genes” is linked to modern biotechnology which is synonymous with genetic engineering.The genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are created when the genomes of one organism are transferred into another and are designed to break down species barrier.
The editorial also says that nine years are long enough to ensure sound safety testing. If the regulator tested for 20 years and did so badly — and badly is the case here — it would amount to naught. The first GM crop (cotton, an animal feed), was introduced in the US just 12 years ago and since then, an increasing number of independent studies have demonstrated serious health and environmental hazards connected with GM crops. Given that no GM crop is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for human consumption because they are given a status of prior safety, safety testing and risk assessment are distinct casualties both in the US and India where the regulators follow such a presumption. The safety dossier of Bt brinjal has been prepared by the crop developers, Mahyco-Monsanto. There has been no oversight or independent testing. The risk assessment and hazard identification methods and procedures are lax and nowhere near the rigour and transparency required for GM foods as eminent, internationally-renowned scientists have pointed out. We need to be confident that our government has an uncompromised position on sound safety assessment and the application of the precautionary principle to this potent technology whose consequences are irreversible. We are a centre of origin and diversity for brinjal which means we need to be extra careful.
Another misconception in your editorial is the claim about the higher yield of GM crops. This is a sweeping claim that cannot be supported because there is no GM crop today that is engineered for intrinsic yield gains. The fact — and this is a scientific fact — is that 95 per cent of GM crops worldwide are genetically-engineered to be pesticidal crops to target specific pests or kill weeds.
Your argument that Bt brinjal has been approved by the expert committee and that 40-odd GM food crops, which are in the pipeline, should be released quickly for commercialisation ignores the illegality of the procedures adopted by the regulators. Without proper safety testing, we risk contaminating the environment. Please let us have some responsible views from the Business Standard which has shown itself to be one of the more responsible newspapers in the country.
Aruna Rodrigues, on email