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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Fears over brinjal have to be shown to be unjustified: Swaminathan by GS Mudur

Fears over brinjal have to be shown to be unjustified: Swaminathan by GS Mudur

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published Published on Feb 10, 2010   modified Modified on Feb 10, 2010

India’s leading agricultural scientist, an architect of the green revolution who has no ideological opposition to the genetic engineering of plants, contributed to the moratorium imposed on genetically modified brinjal today.

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who announced the moratorium on the cultivation of a brinjal variety engineered to kill insect pests, said he had several discussions with agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan before his decision.

Swaminathan had advised Ramesh to assess the chronic effects of the consumption of the brinjal through studies at the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, and the Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore.

His views appear to reflect concerns expressed by environmental groups and other scientists that the safety tests conducted on animals were entirely sponsored by the developers of the brinjal and not performed by independent laboratories.

“We need a transparent regulatory authority that inspires confidence and we need independent safety testing,” Swaminathan told The Telegraph from Ludhiana where he is visiting the Punjab Agricultural University.

Swaminathan’s own institution — the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation — is involved in the development of genetically modified rice that may be able to tolerate salt water. Swaminathan has often advocated the use of biotechnology to address food shortages in the coming decades. But, he said, genetically modified food crops need to be released only after independent testing.

“The fears associated with genetically modified food crops have to be shown to be unjustified,” Swaminathan said. “We need to undertake chronic toxicity studies on animals given the brinjal,” he said.

In his communication sent to the minister, Swaminathan said the study of chronic effects would be analogous to studies carried out on the impact of tobacco smoking on the incidence of lung cancer in humans.

Swaminathan has also expressed his concern about the possible impact of the genetically modified brinjal on India’s rich genetic diversity of brinjal. Scientists believe India is the country of the brinjal’s origin.

The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources has catalogued 3,951 collections. The bureau has also pointed out that the diversity-rich regions are likely to be affected by introduction through gene flow.

Several other scientists have also cautioned the minister against the brinjal.

David Schubert from the Salk Institute of Biological Sciences in the US wrote to say that the brinjal poses serious environmental and health risks.

A scientist from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, has said that the tests conducted in India did not meet international standards.

Ramesh said he had received nearly 1,000 pages of documents from scientists — both arguing in favour of and against the release of the brinjal which had been approved by his ministry’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) in October 2009.

The GEAC had left the final decision to the minister. “I’ve tried to be responsible to science and responsive to society,” Ramesh said. “It’s been a difficult decision — I’ve tried to balance the interests of producers with consumers, science with society.”


The Telegraph, 10 February, 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100210/jsp/nation/story_12088641.jsp
 

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