Vicious Purple Hues

Health and Food | September 18, 2010 | Share

Brinjal has been having its share of publicity, for quite some time now. An Indian private seed company, Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited (MAHYCO), Mumbai, in which Monsanto has a minority stake, developed a special variety of brinjal. Bt brinjal contains the gene, Cry1Ac, of the soil bacterium – Bacillus Thuringienesis. It has been in the news long enough for the common man to know that this increases the yield of brinjal by providing immunity against the Shoot and Fruit borer, a pest that attacks the plant, thereby reducing the amount of pesticides used.

Approval of Bt variety of brinjal would mean the future will soon witness other varieties of genetically modified crops. Do we entirely understand the effects of transmutation? A bacterial gene is integrated into the brinjal. This might integrate itself into the human body, over a period of time. We do not have enough years of research to prove otherwise. How can we be sure that this human intrusion will not have a long term effect on the entire food chain? Assuming it does alter the food cycle, do we understand the implications and magnitude of the coming catastrophe?

We need to look at issues beyond the obvious, because we do not have the answers to most of them.

Ethically speaking…
The GE brinjal contains two antibiotic resistance genes, which could render certain diseases untreatable. These resistance genes could be transferred to other soil bacteria, after decomposition, or to the bacteria present in our digestive system. GM-fed animals, in various studies, have shown that there are problems with their growth and immune responsiveness. Although no short-term effects were noted, longer-term studies (2 years), found – over 20 per cent fewer monarch larvae reached the adult butterfly stage, when exposed to naturally deposited Bt pollen. This shows that genetically engineered Bt eggplant, as opposed to Bt in its natural form, could be harmful to non-target organisms as well. It could be deleterious to the entire ecosystem.

Since the genetically modified brinjal looks the same as the natural vegetable, the consumer will be unaware of what he is purchasing. This is a violation of consumer rights.

The list of countries prohibiting cultivation of some or all transgenic products include Algeria, Benin, Uganda , Zambia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Spain Switzerland, El Salvador, Bolivia and Venezuela. Why then should India be the test bed?

Engineering ethics requires us to abide by some moral responsibilities towards our environment. Alternate methods, which are safer, need to be devised and tested. If the contamination spreads, it will be very difficult to contain it.

Is supply already exceeding demand?
Excerpts from Amulya Pati’s article, published on 9th March, 2010, makes us look at the issue from a different angle:
“An increased production of brinjal in Jajpur district has spelt doom to its farmers as the high output had brought down their prices. Besides, there is no cold storage for preservation of brinjal and no industry for its by-products. … This season, as there has been a huge production of the vegetable, prices have nose-dived. At some places, farmers are forced to destroy the vegetable as there are no buyers.”

Research shows that brinjal constitutes eight per cent of the total vegetable production in India, which is not a small amount. It also shows that the brinjal is highly perishable and most of the yield is destroyed, because of inadequate storage facilities. Wouldn’t it be wiser to propose a solution to improve the storage facilities rather than adopting uncertain (in terms of its side effects) means of unnaturally increasing its production?
The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill plans to create an autocratic body to allow genetically modified food into our country. Due to protests from various NGOs, the bill has not made it to the Parliament, as yet. The current policies on GM foods need to be reviewed, taking long term effects into consideration. We hope the government takes a decision, keeping the best interests of the economy, environment and human health in mind.

Deepashri Vardarajan