I was waiting for the last 4 days to get the comments accumulated, so that I can reply to all at once. Now, before debating any further with the points rose, let me make this clear. I am not advocating either for all GM crops nor am I against GM crops. The article was meant to tell that GM crops have been so anti-marketed these days that the common people are not even willing to hear about it. Now, let me explain…….

Reply to Mr. Sridhar’s Comment:
The point that Mr. Sridhar raised about “monsanto’s staff refusing to eat what was served as GM ”, was a good insight. And when I went to those stories on net and through direct communication, I saw two sides of the same coin.
One side: The Granada Food Services said the move was designed to “ensure that you, the customer, can feel confident in the food we serve and to comply with government legislation.” The caterers had no confidence in the company’s GM product. I would like to remind you that Granada is UK’s second largest catering service and it serves not only Monsanto but many other firms and it has its own restaurants. And the comment which says ‘customers’ do not include monsanto’s employees alone but the people at large. It did not sound like the Monsanto or its employees had a problem nor did it sound from the quality system directors’ word that monsantos’ employee had a complain. The move might have been initiated in UK because the company wanted the good will of the people at large. The contract given by monsanto to its caterer is to serve the food to its employees. However the contract did not include whether they should use GM products or not. That decision lies with the caterer.
Other Side: I need not explain, my friend Sridhar has already explained that “Monsanto tried giving their own staff that and you what- their staff refused to eat it”. Yes, this kind of news, I see many often on net (not denying it!). These news mislead the people. What a layman think is this- “If the company’s own employees can’t handle GM crop then who else will.”
However the fact to this situation is Granada’s policy was a blanket one which covered all its catering outlets.
Now again as you said, neither me nor any scientists in this world has the right to prepare any GM food and tell the people to eat. And that’s exactly Mike Batchelor (quality systems director of Granada’s) told friends of the earth- “to maintain customer choice we will sell retail products such as confectionery. That are packaged and labelled by the manufacturer as containing GM soya and maize, where it is appropriate.” So now can we think of anything similar to that? You choose your product from market (whether GM or non-GM) so that the end consumer has his/her choice.

And yes, out of curiosity can I get the reference for GM crop being non-nutritious.

Reply to Ms. Usha’s Comment:
From your comments, I understand that you are very much for the farmers and the well being of the society at large. Since you have more than one point, I have bulleted it down:

1. The concern you raised against insect getting tolerant or resistant to ‘Bt cotton’, is a natural process. No one down played that possibility. But you should realize this resistance is not because of the GM factor in it, but it is a natural progression. Even in terms of medicines, certain antibiotics cannot be used in certain people as their body is resistant to such antibiotics and no effect could be seen. A classical example is the disease caused by Helicobacter pylori which causes gastric troubles, ulcers and even stomach cancers. The treatment involves a standard triple antibiotics, however this standard antibiotics has now lost its significance as certain strains have gained resistance over the standard dose of antibiotics prescribed. That’s when the next level of treatment comes to play for such patients. Does that mean antibiotic used is bad? No, it just means that the bacterium has evolved its resistance. And this process of being resistant did not happen because of the newly developed technology after human intervention. It means that human interventions are less profuse to Gods natural gift. The fact to this problem is, insects has become resistant not because the GM was introduced to market, but because the organism is showing its natural evolution. Being resistant to one type of insect, do not happen overnight or mean the end of that crop. What did people do when an insect became resistant to certain type of insecticides, during the non-GM era? They just increased the dose or used another effective one. In the same way, a more resistant variety would be in market for GM.

2. I would also like to defer on what you stated “Genetic Engineering is a hazardous technology and that is why there is a international treaty on this technology to prevent any disaster”. I would like to re-frame that as “genetic engineering has the potential to make things hazardous like any other technology if not handled and controlled properly and it is for this very reason that international and national treaties has been signed. And it is for this very reason that law and order is also in the country, to control what has the potential to boomerang.”

3. Can you please validate your comment on:
• “use of pesticides has increased in the country only after the introduction of hybrids
and high yielding varieties”.
• “….non-chemical pest control methods followed by farmers are highly effective….”

Reply to Ms. Sangita’s Links:
Thanks for the links at the onset, but however being in this field for the last 6 years, I have gone through them very often. Your comments have been repeated with Mr. Sridhar’s and Usha’s comment and I believe have answered most of those through the reply given to them. However, kindly note the following:

1. to the comment that you gave “…….consumers like you and me will be at their mercy….” Consumers should never be at a mercy of any private organisation and our law does not allow that. These technologies have been transferred to public organisation and no one is at the mercy of any private organisations or as you said ‘transnational giants’. The government has very well the resource and technology for regaining the market just as they do for any other technology say like pharmaceutical products.

2. And to the point that does uncooked Bt brinjal has side effects, the answer is ‘No’. The reason is that the active site that is needed for this protein to get inserted is absent in humans. Now, to the layman an active domain would not make any sense. Let’s just say for now this active domain is the place where a compound finds its place to sit properly and be functional. It is thorough this knowledge of active domain that even medicines like paracetamol that we eat are made.
But, I am sure no one is going to buy this, when we talk science to layman. And I do not blame them either, but what I do blame is the fact of misleading the people with any given news. I do not understand this very fact of twisting the stories for ones benefit.

To All:
I am sure you all will have a counter point to tell to all my comments, but just think about these suggestions and can we try to come up with a solution for this.

• To make government and GM makers responsible just like in pharma products. If a medicine goes wrong, even after years of trial, the blame and the compensation for the same goes and comes respectively, from the producer.

• To provide the choice of GM and non-GM to the consumers, but this comes with the labelling of GM food (which again is another topic for discussion).

• To have a germplasm of natural cultivable species of crops, so that government can revert back from GM at any point of time. I believe the government has its own germplasm for this.

These suggestions do not mean that I am against GM, this will only help the people to accept the technology without fear.

I would like to parallel the GM technology with the pharma biotech that we very well accepted. The difference lies in only one- the latter is eaten when a person does not have any option (because he is suffering with the sickness) and the former is trying to get accepted when a person still has other options. But, these options are brimming down with the changing environmental conditions and that’s when scientists look for alternatives. For example, the central government has declared a decrease of up to 68% reduction in rainfall. At this scenario, the price of food grains will also increase in coming years (hoarding of grains is also an issue, which some people take advantage off, at this situation), would not a drought resistant variety be the solution for this changing scenario? And if we need such kind of GM hybrid by 2014 or further, does not the scientists work for it and undergo the regulatory norms for their products?

If the desire to improve dwells in the hearts and minds of people then we have to keep up with the changing environment. You might say, otherwise, but we must also realize this- we came this far, from the discovery of fire just because of the curiosity that man had and the desire to improve upon.

If 180 countries world over have either banned or passed a moratorium against GM foods, then why is India remotely considering GM Foods?To get those answers view these links http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/ and mine http://myrighttosafefood.blogspot.com/

To widen your understanding on this front, take some time out and read on I have provided you a number of links below or will invite you to one of my sessions, being a farmers will gladly eradicate your misconceptions and doubts.

- Sunday, August 16, 2009
EGYPT BANS TRADE IN GM FOOD

AFP, via France 24, 12 August 2009:
http://www.france24.com/en/20090812-egypt-bans-trade-gm-food

Now if a small country like Egypt can rise to the muscle of the conglomerates to safeguard their citizens and environment against GM foods then why not India??? A shame to our Indian government to not be able to take charge of our appalling state of affairs internally re food security despite being independent after 60 odd years and to us citizens who have lost a single strong voice of reason!!!
Sangita Sharma
http://myrighttosafefood.blogspot.com/
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It must be the final insult. Monsanto, own staff canteen bans GM products - The Guardian, Reuters and AFP (London) 22dec99
Having led the way in promoting genetically modified (GM) food, the food technology giant Monsanto has suffered the indignity of having GM products of Corn and Soy banned in its own staff canteen by the caterers Granada Food Services , who say the move is “in response to concern raised by our customers and raised concerns that it has no confidence in this new technology. We have taken the above steps to ensure that you, the customer, can feel confident in the food we serve.” And one former Monsanto scientist told his colleagues, who were safety testing milk from cows injected with the company’s genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, decided to st op drinking milk–unless it was organic. Even at Monsanto, many in-the-know employees won’t consume the company’s own GM creations.
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When it premiered in February this year, the documentary film ‘Poison on the Platter’ directed by Ajay Kanchan and presented by Mahesh Bhatt, opened to mixed reviews. Devinder Sharma, a food and trade policy expert based in New Delhi, reviews the film against the backdrop of the controversies surrounding Genetically Modified (GM) food in India

[Note from Editor: The Express Biotech viewpoint is that as the experts in the film say, we are not against GM foods per se. Like any new technology and product, GM foods need to be studied longer and in more clinical settings to gauge their long term impact on the health of consumers. Not conducting these trials with due diligence could see future generations suffering from disease conditions unknown to us today. We invite counterpoints to this article and hope to start a meaningful debate on this topic. Do send in your articles/viewpoints to viveka.r@expressindia.com]

This is your opportunity to make your voice felt.

Here is the article:

Poison on the platter
Express Pharma
http://www.expresspharmaonline.com/20090630/expressbiotech07.shtml

It couldn’t have been better timed. Mahesh Bhatt’s powerful documentary film Poison on the Platter comes at a time when India’s first genetically modified (GM) food crop – Bt brinjal – awaits commercialization. A few more months of sponsored research trials, and an unwanted and unhealthy food crop would be ready for its first serving.

Mahesh Bhatt has awakened the nation to the emerging dangers from consuming GM foods. Piecing together some of the startling cases of food poisoning, which for obvious reasons the GM food industry doesn’t want to talk about, the film does force the people to think. It provides thought for GM food.

While the jury is still not out about the safety of GM foods, the biotech industry is in a tearing hurry to force it down the throat of gullible consumers. After the European Union resisted the take-over of the food chain by the GM industry, especially in the aftermath of the disastrous impact of first the mad cow disease and then the foot-and-mouth disease, the GM industry shifted its focus to developing countries. India, with a lax regulatory regime and an easily manipulative agricultural scientific system, became an easy target.

In fact, India has become the world’s biggest dustbin for GM technology. In addition to Bt cotton, and now with the likelihood of the introduction of Bt brinjal, there are some 56 crops, mostly staple foods and vegetables, are in the advanced stages of research and field trials. And this includes rice, sugarcane, soybean, tomato, cauliflower, bhindi, and potato. Poison on the Platter therefore comes as a timely warning.

What worries me is that like the cigarette industry, which kept the safety data away from public glare for several decades, the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco), which developed Bt brinjal, too is unwilling to disclose the human safety data citing confidentiality and commercial interests as the reasons. It was only after the courts intervened that the company has been forced to make public the data from research trials. The underlying message is crystal clear. The public must believe the companies. People have no right to know what they are eating.

In a way it is true. The hush-hush manner, in which the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), the apex approval authority for genetically altered crops/foods, has been clearing and allowing large-scale field trials of GM crops, is enough of an indication that it is merely a rubber stamp for the biotechnology industry. Throwing all scientific norms of research and evaluation to wind, and not even bothering to analyse the toxicity data for human and animal health, it has been blindly accepting the data presented by the companies.

I wonder how the public can be a silent spectator. After all, the Bt gene in brinjal makes the fruit 1000 times more toxic than the toxins that exists in the normal sprays of Bt bio-pesticides. To say that the Bt toxin in brinjal is safe for human health, when its much-paler bio-pesticides sprays can kill insects, is certainly not palatable. Moreover, brinjal is not only cooked, it is also used raw and the toxin would remain in such cases. As I said in the film, imagine keeping a Bt brinjal in a glass container along with a few shoot borer insects that normally feed on brinjal. You will see that these insects will die. If these insects can die from feeding on Bt brinjal, I wonder what will happen when the same Bt brinjal goes into our stomach.

The company of course claims that 5 to 10 minutes of cooking kills the Bt toxin. Is it 5 minute cooking that is safe enough or do we have to go in for 10 minutes? If this is true, than shouldn’t the GEAC make it mandatory for housewives to keep thermometer in their kitchens? And what will happen if my child for instance eats raw Bt brinjal while playing around? Will he survive? Still worse, do we have adequate medical tests prescribed that can detect the damage done by Bt toxin in the human body?

Besides Bt brinjal, most of the GM crops are being promoted as an alternative to chemical pesticides. That the GM crops reduce the application of chemical pesticides too has been proven incorrect. In China, where Bt cotton was hailed as a silver-bullet for cotton farmers, a Cornell University study has shown that cotton farmers in China growing Bt crop, are actually using more pesticides and therefore incurring losses. In India too, Bt cotton has not reduced the application of pesticides.

In the United States, GM corn, soybean and cotton have reportedly led to 122 million pounds increase in pesticides usage since 1996. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) now admits that yields of GM soyabean and corn have actually fallen. The University of Nebraska and the Kansas University have also made similar conclusions.

Moreover, weed resistance to ‘herbicide-tolerant’ GM crops in the US exists in 15 million acres. At least 30 ‘super weeds’ – which cannot be controlled by any means – have developed in North America. In India, several new pests have emerged on Bt cotton. Reports of failure of Bt cotton, including hundreds of Bt cotton farmers committing suicide, have also poured in. But who cares? The GEAC goes on merrily putting its stamp of approval on company studies.

With the former Science and Technology minister Kapil Sibal repeatedly asserting that the government is “pro-GM crops”, it is quite obvious as to whose interests is it promoting. The entire regulatory system therefore is eyewash, and borders on sham. The only way to see that the government-biotechnology industry nexus does not play havoc with human health is to hold the Minister as well as the GEAC members liable for any mishap. Put them behind bars if any untoward bio-safety accident takes place. Someone has to be held accountable for playing with human safety.

Make the liability clause absolutely stringent and you will see the biotechnology industry closing shop. That is what the essential message from Mahesh Bhatt’s film is. #
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A cancerous conspiracy to poison your faith in organic food Joanna Blythman The Daily Mail, 31 July 2009 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1203343/JOANNA-BLYTHMAN-A-cancerous-conspiracy-poison-faith-organic-food.htmlServing poison in every plate.
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‘GM food can cause the biggest health crisis’ Q&A: Gilles-Eric Seralini
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/%5Cgm-food-can-causebiggest-health-crisis%5C/364139/
By Latha Jishnu / New Delhi July 17, 2009, 0:12 IST
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GM Crops are the Highway to Genetic Holocaust More Lethal than Nuclear Holocaust

Tuesday 7 July 2009, by Sailendra Nath Ghosh
An excerpt from his article

Will the gene or genes implanted in a species remain confined to the targeted species?
Science is clear on this issue. “The very cellular mechanisms that enable the foreign genes to ‘force-integrate’ into the genome can also mobilise these genes to jump out.” Which means, the foreign genes can re-insert into other sites of the targeted organism and also jump out to re-integrate into other organisms by secondary, tertiary, quarternary transfers. Thus, it is a demonic technology. This is tearing apart the genome of every species of the plant and animal kingdom. This is Genetic holocaust. Certainly it is more lethal than nuclear holocaust. In nuclear-bomb-devastated Hiroshima, after 60years, blades of grass have started growing. But the effects of transgenic engineering are Irretrievable and will last till eternity.

There is a world of difference between genetic engineering—of the type that Borlaung did in the 1960s—and the transgenic engineering that is now being pushed through.

It is because of this that the highly venerated Nobel Laureate in Medicine, George Wald, eminent Professor of Biology, Harvard University, had, at the very beginning of this concept, warned against its pursuit with the following trenchant words:

Recombinant DNA technology faces our society with problems unprecedented not only in the history of science, but of life on Earth. It places in human hands the capacity to redesign living organisms, the products of three billion years of evolution. Such intervention must not be confused with previous intrusion upon the natural order of living organisms: animal and plant breeding……
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Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food By Jeffrey M. Smith
http://www.geneticroulette.com/
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The American Academy Of Environmental Medicine Calls For Immediate Moratorium On Genetically Modified Foods
http://www.aaemonline.org/pressrelease.html has the press release and their position paper on GMOs can be accessed at http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopost.html

I read your article with a lot of interest since as an agriculture scientist I am interested in discussions concerning introduction of new technologies in to agriculture.

I have done research on the impact of pesticides on the biodiversity, economy of farmers and the sustainability of farming . I am also following the issues of pesticide residues in food and its probable health impacts . I have visited a lot of fields where farmers have found ways of pest control without using these deadly chemicals called pesticides. Recently I could also visit some Bt cotton farms and could interact with farmers and agriculture officers there. What I could understand was that non-chemical pest control methods followed by farmers are highly effective and of low budget and farmers have developed confidence in these methods since even during bad climate their crops survived while the chemical farmers lost the entire crop. This new bio agriculture is hence gaining momentum in thousands of villages all over the country. Secondly I could see from the field that pests are gaining resistance to Bt cotton and the farmers are reverting back to pesticides and they also face threats from new pests .

I started reading about genetic engineering since then and found a lot of scientific studies showing the negative impacts of genetically modified crops and it is alarming. The impact on health and biodiversity is huge. We can not take it casually . This can be more disastrous than pesticides and as we can not recall them back once the damage is done.

Use of pesticides has increased in the country only after the introduction of Hybrids and High Yielding Varieties. And contamination of our body and environment is a reality now. Whom can we blame and make accountable for this damage? Scientists who recommended them? Industries which manufacture these chemicals? Regulators? Farmers? We are at a loss .

Are these GM scientists and biotech industries and the regulators ready to shoulder the responsibility in its true if something goes wrong? As an agriculture scientists I feel very sorry for the plight of farmers and consumers and children who are losing their child hood because of bad food and resultant health disorders. Scientists have a responsibility to correct the damage caused by the introduction of some of these hazardous technologies. Genetic engineering is a hazardous technology and that is why there is a international treaty on this technology to prevent any disaster . So the countries who have signed this treaty have to follow that , how ever time consuming it be. There is no hurry actually to develop such technologies which are controversial and even questioned by geneticists. We have lots and lots of other technologies and practices which can be tried, but sadly agriculture scientists are not allowed to do research on such technologies and are now sidelined by biotechnolgists who have not studied the basics of agriculture and understood farming as a culture.
Regards
Usha

Meanwhile, we the rest of us here, who already hate the bloody Food processing scientists and industry and the hybrid crop industry for manipulating our food to the extent that it has become so non-nutritious ( I can give you so many examples), leading to so many so called life style diseases and immunity, mineral and vitamin deficiencies, we want to say clearly that “You ( i dont mean you, after all you are still one of us) have no bloody right to manipulate our food, and force feed us with food that cannot sustain ( I can clarify this if you need - such food is neither sustainable on the farm, nor in our stomachs, even while it sees a temporary sustenance in the minds of people like you)”.

I can give you good references to non-propaganda scientists and people who have serious concern, The example you give about Greenpeace is actually as good as you yourself, self proclaimed propagandist for whomsoever …

But yes ! Go ahead have an enclosed production of GM and eat it yourself, but keep it out of our environment, our farms, our food and our children.

There are some people who have decided upon themselves to make money selling all sorts of products that can produce more and more ill people, and further their cause of making money treating ill people - like the pesticide industry and the sister-pharma industry, and I see why they thrive. Thanks to people like you. Anyway, I am free to be contacted on this argument. But let me tell you, I can see from your letter that you have not read enough and have been completely mislead by some greenpeace activist…there is much more surer and cleaner knowledge out there…

Sridhar

The NGO which has fought for the rights of this woman are they a part of the ‘anti-abortion’ lobby of USA? What is the source of funding of this NGO? Or would Bedi, the lawyer be the hands-on mommy multi-tasking changing the new born nappies, feeding and burping the baby, changing the mentally challenged mothers’ menstrual pads etc.. so that the baby can grow up looking forward in knowing and bonding with another blood relation the rapist Dad or is it Dads?

Would rapist Dad/Dads be given rights in child-visitation USA style? With arguments like, ‘after all it is her Daddy/Daddys and we Indians are so forgiving’.

Honourable Supreme Court has stated that the unborn child sould be left ‘free’ in nature? So why is this particular NGO being entrusted with this mentally challenged woman at all? If she is not ‘safe’ in the Government run Nari Niketan probably she would be better off ’free’ on the streets.

It is not only that KSRTC considers their revenue big time (it appears that they consider that only), they themselves are only to be blamed for riding their vehicle into the current financial mess.. I have lived long enough in Chennai to claim that the bus services there, and out of the city, is excellent and cheap. The amenities they provide are also unmatched. Even if your argument is true, with ‘hidden charges’, if TNSTC could offer bus fares that low, actually passengers don’t mind. But, here, KSRTC openly charges more.. and it is reaching a tipping point.

In my article, ‘Trade in Faith Symbols’ the broader front we should cover was pointed out as TRIPS. Because the imposed intellectual property regime of the WTO is corrupting our values, in addition to causing handicap and waste of resources.

Did our proposed public meeting and discussion take place?

Best Wishes.

Love.

NNPanicker

London
2009.07.09

“At least, they are not criminals”. Kudos to the wisdom of judiciary

Thanks & Regards,
Asha V.P