Withdraw GM Seeds Immediately, Warn Indian Genetic Engineers.

[Jagannath Chatterjee]

GM WATCH daily
http://www.gmwatch.org
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The cover stories from India's national magazine 'Frontline':
1.Seeds and protests
2.Biotech brinjal

EXCERPT: Top biotech scientists are also critical of the manner in
which the GM tests are being conducted. "It is an absolute scandal for us
to allow further trials despite the failure of Bt cotton. The seed
should be withdrawn immediately, just like faulty drugs are removed from the market. We are being taken for a ride by the MNC [multinational
company]-government nexus. These committees don't even have specialised
scientists. They exist only to promote the interests of powerful companies,
not of the country..." said Dr. Pushpa Bhargava, founder of the Centre
for Cellular and Molecular Biology, a world-renowned pioneer of genetic
engineering in India.
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FRONTLINE, Volume 23 - Issue 12: Jun. 17-30, 2006
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU

COVER STORY: Seeds and protests

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN
in New Delhi
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20060630004102200.htm

EXCERPTS:
The UPA government's decision to allow field trials in GM food crops
may have human and economic costs.

[image caption: HARVESTING COTTON IN Coimbatore. Bt Cotton seeds
released by multinational companies this year failed to give increased
yields. In Andhra Pradesh, a large number of cattle and sheep reportedly died
after eating Bt Cotton stalks and leaves.]

According to the CFGMFI, these decisions have far-reaching implications
for agriculture and health . This is especially so giventhe contentious
results that experiments with Bt cotton have produced in Andhra
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. The CFGMFI leadership
pointed out that negative consequences were all the more likely because the
GEAC had said that the Bt gene being used for the brinjal trials was
the same as the one used in Bt cotton.

 .... reports from the States in which Bt cotton was introduced have indicated that the tests against effects on human health were not as foolproof as claimed by
the company. Most farmers and farm workers in different States have
experienced longstanding allergies of different kinds. More recently,
reports from Andhra Pradesh indicated a rise in sheep mortality after
grazing on Bt cotton. According to the CFGMFI, some scientific
investigations have even pointed to a clear correlation between exposure to Bt
Cotton and the adverse health conditions seen among farmers.

The CFGMFI asserts that studies have established that the Bt gene is a
known toxin that affects human and livestock health adversely. A note
submitted by the organisation to Union Minister for Health and Family
Welfare Anbumani Ramdoss states: "Published, peer-reviewed papers by
scientists demonstrate that recombinant Cry1Ac protoxin in the Bt gene is a
powerful immunogen and when fed to mice, induced antibody responses
similar to those obtained with the cholera toxin. Research shows that
Cry1Ac actively binds to the inner surface of the mouse's small intestine.
This contests the often-heard argument that Cry proteins do not affect
mammals since they supposedly do not have receptors that bind the
truncated toxin in the gut."

Given these results, the CFGMFI points out, the consequences of trials
with a food crop, indeed a vegetable crop that will be consumed
directly, are unimaginable. The coalition argues that that introduction of the
Bt gene in the food crop sector has the potential consequence of
genetic manipulation. However, the position of the Ministry of Environment,
as expressed by GEAC, is that the bio-safety package has been completed
for brinjal and there are no reasons to stop large-scale field trials.

Apart from health concerns, the commercial dimensions of the exercise
are also being questioned. There is a widespread perception, shared even
by some State Agriculture Ministers belonging to the Congress, that the
manner in which GM seeds are promoted is beneficial only to private
companies, particularly big multinational corporations like Monsanto. 

Even as such calls go out, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Ministry has
opened up new areas for Monsanto. The Left parties referred to this trend
in a note submitted at the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting on
June 15. The note pointed out that "the Seeds Bill piloted by the
Ministry of Agriculture seeks to subvert the seed rights of farmers and
facilitate monopolisation of the seed business in the hands of the
multinational seed companies. The Indo-U.S. Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural
Research and Education ... has not only empowered Wal-Mart and Monsanto
to dictate the agenda of agricultural research in India but also
ensured that such research will be largely funded by the U.S.-based
multinationals and therefore tied to the stringent intellectual property regime
of the U.S."

2.Biotech brinjal
FRONTLINE Volume 23 - Issue 12: Jun. 17-30, 2006
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20060630004902400.htm

EXCERPTS:
At a time when the safety of Bt cotton is highly suspect, the
government's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) is considering
clearance of large-scale field trials of Bt Brinjal. It is the first time
that GM Brinjal is being released for an advanced stage of field trials in
open conditions anywhere in the world. It is also the closest India has
got to sanctioning GM food crops.

If cleared, it will be the first time that the GEAC allows large-scale
field trials for GM food crops. Such field trials could lead to the
uncontrolled release of genetically modified organisms into the
environment, which could contaminate normal varieties of the crop. Japan and several European countries have banned cultivation of GM food crops. But India is allowing it entry without taking adequate precautions.


Several environmental groups and farmers' associations have appealed
against the trials. But the GEAC is dismissive. "We would like some
concrete objections based on the data placed before us by Mahyco, not
general, emotional arguments," B.S. Parsheera, Chairperson of the GEAC, told
Frontline. However, environmentalists opposing the trials say that the
data are too sketchy to provide scientific feedback. "This shows how
the GEAC takes decisions that affect the health of millions - based on
meaningless presentations by companies," said Kavitha Kuruganti from the
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.

Top biotech scientists are also critical of the manner in which the GM
tests are being conducted. "It is an absolute scandal for us to allow
further trials despite the failure of Bt cotton. The seed should be
withdrawn immediately, just like faulty drugs are removed from the market. We are being taken for a ride by the MNC [multinational
company]-government nexus. These committees don't even have specialised scientists.

They exist only to promote the interests of powerful companies, not of
the country. And these MNCs, such as Monsanto which is promoting Bt seeds
in India, have a notorious record all over the world," said Dr. Pushpa
Bhargava, founder of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, a
world-renowned pioneer of genetic engineering in India.

"No country in the world has a satisfactory system of assessing the
risks associated with the release of GM plants into the environment. What
has happened in this extremely lax environment all over the world is
extremely disturbing, " Bhargava explained. "It is shocking that no tests
were done to monitor the effects on cattle or sheep if they ate the
leaves of the Bt cotton plant, even though in India crop plants are often
fed to cattle as fodder. That is why so many animals died in Andhra
Pradesh. The main problem is that there is a conflict of interest in using
the tests and data provided by the company."

The effects on human health are numerous and often unknown. A recent
study in Madhya Pradesh found that farm workers exposed to Bt cotton had
allergies including skin eruptions and swollen faces. The Cry1Ac gene
is a powerful immunogen and can prompt adverse reactions from the immune
system. If humans eat Bt brinjal it is possible that the Bt toxin can
enter the human digestive system and interfere with the bacteria in the
intestines. There are severe limitations to current allergy testing
procedures for genetically modified organisms. Many GM crops such as beans
and Starlink corn were found to produce allergies after they were sold
in the market.

The NptII gene used as a marker in Bt brinjal can affect antibiotic
resistance. The cauliflower mosaic virus, a viral promoter used in Bt
brinjal, is similar to the hepatitis B virus, and could reactivate dormant
viruses. Studies worldwide have shown that eating GM food can result in
wasteful growth of gut tissues and bacterial proliferation, intestinal
tumours, immune system suppression and interference with the
development of the body's vital organs.


Genetically modified plants can harm the environment and biodiversity.
Once out in the fields, there is no way of knowing whether normal plant
varieties have been contaminated by the GM variety through pollination,
which could lead to the extinction of local crop varieties. This is the
reason for the `buffer zone' that most GM crops have rarely followed in
India where land is scarce. Moreover, the Cry1Ac gene affects
butterflies and moths and alters soil microbiology. Farmers using Bt cotton in
India report decline in soil productivity. However, Mahyco said that its
tests had ruled out the possibility of any such adverse impact on the
environment.

"It is absurd to say that GM crops will bring us food security. Is
there no food security in E.U. countries that have banned GM?" asked
Bhargava. "It may kill biodiversity. Several organic methods of cultivation
have proved far more effective," he said.

The government is racing headlong into the genetic engineering maze,
though agricultural studies are showing that natural processes are more
effective. In just four years of GM technology, we have seen many
disastrous results. Will no one listen as nature strikes back?

DIONNE BUNSHA

"Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." -  Aurobindo.

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