The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently allowed the seeds of a Genetically Modified tomato of purple color and rich anti-oxidants (Norfolk Plant Sciences (NPS) nutrition-dense purple tomato) after a period of 14 years (yearning for regulatory approval since 2008) for open sale in market by 2023.
It has found the green lighter only after the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) could ascertain that ‘this modified tomato is unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk relative to its comparator.’
As per the conducted research, incorporating GM Tomatoes in cancer-induced mice’s diet has the ability to extend their life by 30 percent because of higher anthocyanin (a miraculous anti-oxidant) levels.
The Researchers explain: “The decision shows how the updates to APHIS regulatory framework will enable independent scientists and small companies to develop and compete on the market with better products to benefit consumers and climate. We are optimistic that we can begin limited distribution of purple tomatoes in the US in 2023”.
This has again paved the way for research into making our available foods healthier and undoubtedly, a debate around the ethics in this alteration.
Many countries have grown wary of these superficial crops where their selective genes are altered to give them certain desired characteristics.
For instance, Mexico’s president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has already announced to end the import of genetically modified corn by 2024.
While there are pertinent worries for its adoption, the new genetically modified crops continue to be introduced in search of better yield, better resistance to pests or simply for eradicating hunger in the world.
GM Soya bean has been a latest development that more efficiently absorbs sunlight and converts it into energy only to produce 25 percent higher yield, that can be rendered a better solution to address malnutrition as well as hunger.
Genetically Modified crops and India:
One of the most common examples in India is Golden rice that gets prepared by inserting genes from a plant either daffodils or maize along with a soil bacterium to prepare a rice that is enriched with Vitamin A.
India has allowed only a single GM crop i.e., Bt Cotton (Cotton plant made with Bacillus thuringiensis) for commercial cultivation although field trials have been conducted for nearly 20 GM crops. Bt Brinjal and GM Mustard have still not seen the light of the day because of certain apprehensions though some of them are being grown inadvertently despite the ban.
It is being speculated that under the influence of rice export lobby, India has brought in policies to ban even GM rice trials that were supposed to happen in the basmati belt.
Describing these seeds as ‘Trojan horse’ of the Companies, an agro-economist explains: “The example of Bt cotton wiping out indigenous and hybrid seeds is still fresh.”
The fears to ban GM crops have been the environmental abuse, loss of pure crop genes, development of antibiotic resistance or allergy because of altered DNA etc.
However, our Scientific community has not stayed aloof from research and has crafted certain alternatives to the GM crops.
Biofortification can help in sustaining the beneficial aspects of a normally cultivated crop. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has already developed 21 different varieties of biofortified crops including rice, wheat, maize, mustard, millets, groundnut etc., offering nearly 1.5 to 3 times more levels of protein, vitamins or minerals, especially zinc.
Similar fortification of milk can be done with Vitamins A and D.
A pair of non-GM herbicide tolerant rice were created which could inherently save water and labour costs like Pusa Basmati 1979 or Pusa Basmati 1985.
Similarly, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) created a line of drought as well as salinity tolerant rice varieties with the help of a new gene editing tool called Site Directed Nuclease (SDN) 1 and 2. This stands different from the GM technology using CRISPR because here, the rice’s own genes and consequently properties are edited without any use of the genes of any other organism.
In the latest run, Karnataka state’s No-objection Certificate and subsequent Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee’s (GEAC) approval has made way for the proposal of conducting confined area trials of planting the genetically modified (GM) as well as herbicide-tolerant maize and cotton seeds.
Aspirational India: Health, Hunger, Technology and Ethics
India stands on the verge of its 76th Independence year, hoping for more. When we look back on our progress, we made great strides all along: the 1991 reforms of LPG, the attainment of food security in the country, the GST regime etc.
We have brought in several missions like POSHAN, Janani Suraksha Yojana etc., but it is embarrassing to note that the problem of malnutrition still persists. PM Modi has visualized an aspirational India.
But this aspirational India also needs to aim at achieving nutritional security besides only calorie intake that calls for availing better quality and nutrient rich food to all its citizens.
Harnessing science to tame-in a supreme challenge of malnutrition in developing economies and of hunger in Least Developed countries (LDCs) and vulnerable sections in any society, can be termed as a good solution.
But the success only lies in designing a supportive public policy and above all, transparency of data from consecutive surveys and monitoring attempts but all this needs a balanced environment.
More than 40 countries across the world have released their own set of biofortified crops that seem to benefit over 48 million people.
It is to note that our classical narrative of terming all genetically modified foods as unsafe or “bad” requires a wider investment and research around the same.