Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

In News: Recently, FSSAI issued an order to set the permissible limit for adventitious presence” of GMOs at one percent .

• The term adventitious presence refers to unintentional or incidental presence of trace amounts of GM material in non-GM crops.
• In August 2020, FSSAI had issued the order that 24 food crops the country imports would need a ‘non-GM-origin-cum-GM-free certificate’ issued by a competent authority.

About Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)-

• They  are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering in order to favour the expression of desired physiological traits or the generation of desired biological products
• This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.
• Most GMOs have been engineered to withstand the direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide.
• However, new technologies are now being used to artificially develop other traits in plants, such as a resistance to browning in apples, and to create new organisms using synthetic biology.

Genetically Modified( GM )Crops

• They are that type of plants whose DNA has been modified through genetic engineering for embedding a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species.
• Genetic engineering aims to transcend the genus barrier by introducing an alien gene in the seeds to get the desired effects and the alien gene could be from a plant, an animal or even a soil bacterium.
• Across the world, GM variants of maize, canola and soybean etc , are available.

Advantages –

• It improves production and raises the farmer’s income.
• It reduces the use of pesticide and insecticide during farming that might be great moves for the betterment of the food supply.
• It can feed a rapidly increasing population because it shows dramatically increased yields.
• It can produce more in small areas of land.

Disadvantages:

• The production imposes high risks to the disruption of ecosystem and biodiversity because the “better” traits produced from engineering genes can result in the favouring of one organism.
  • Hence, it can eventually disrupt the natural process of gene flow.
• It increases the cost of cultivation and more inclined towards marketization of farming that works on immoral profits.
• The transgenic crops endanger not only farmers but also the trade, and the environment as well.

GM crops in India:

• Bt cotton, the only GM crop that is allowed in India since  2002, has two alien genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that allows the crop to develop a protein toxic to the common pest pink bollworm and the other is Ht Bt cotton which is derived with the insertion of an additional gene, from another soil bacterium, which allows the plant to resist the common herbicide glyphosate.
• In Bt brinjal, a gene permits the plant to resist attacks of fruit and shoot borers.
• Previously, the government has put on hold the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard due to stiff opposition from anti-GM activists and NGOs.

The legal position GM crops in India

• In India, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is the apex body that allows for commercial release of GM crops and works under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
  • It is responsible for the appraisal of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.
  • The committee is also responsible for the appraisal of proposals relating to the release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms and products into the environment including experimental field trials.
• Use of the unapproved GM variant can attract a jail term of 5 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Environmental Protection Act,1989.

Regulation of Imported Crops:

• The task of regulating GMO levels in imported consumables was initially with the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union environment ministry.
• Its role was diluted with the enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and FSSAI was asked to take over approvals of imported goods.

Source :DTH