Dr Farhat Umar
Long time back, I watched the first movie of the ‘Spiderman’ series. A young boy, bitten by a spider undergoes some genetic modifications bettering his vision, reaction time, physique and giving him the ability to climb walls and jump over buildings. This boy transforms into a savior of humanity.
I would always wonder if it was possible in real world until I heard about genetically modified crops; crops which are incorporated with some other useful genes for increased productivity, longer shelf life, pest resistance, better nutrition etc. With 1 billion people sleeping hungry every night (FAO) and population soaring to more than 9 Billion by 2050, food insecurity is a major concern. Moreover, hidden hunger, a name given to nutritional deficiencies in food is causing unimaginable harm. Vitamin A deficiency alone blinds half a million kids globally and kills a half each year ; Zinc deficiency kills about half a million more. Iodine deficiency is believed to have affected 2 Billion people (ISAAA Briefs, 2011). Moreover, pesticide residues in food causes one-third of a million deaths annually. The globe is changing. Desertification and land degradation are reducing arable land by millions of hectares every year. Reports suggest that the ground water has been surging by 1 meter/ year in Indian subcontinent with droughts and floods being more frequent. Rising sea levels also poses a severe threat to low lying croplands.
The demeaning facts and figures speak volumes about the need of increasing food production, improving the nutritional profile of food, production of pest resistant crops and development of stress tolerant crops. With mercury rising , heat stress tolerant crop varieties have become a necessity. The only appropriate solution as of now is Genetically Modified crops. Green revolution, with the help of high yielding varieties and improved agricultural practices, dominated the second half of 20th century and made the world food sufficient. It is time to look beyond. It is time for a Gene Revolution.
From the commercialization of GM crops in early 90’s in countries like US and China, the success has been huge. Approximately 13 million hectares of biodiversity – rich tropical forests are lost in developing countries annually. If the 278 million tons of additional food, feed and fiber produced by GM crops during the period 1996 to 2010 had not been produced, an additional 91 million hectares of conventional crops would have been required to produce the same tonnage creating a havoc to biodiversity. 40 % of the additional food, feed and fiber produced has been attributed to lesser labour, pesticides and ploughing; and 60% increase, to higher yield of the GM crops (ISAAA Briefs, 2011). Genetically engineered potatoes were successfully developed by Chakarborty et al at Central Potato Research Institute, Himachal Pradesh, having 60% more protein, which can help reduce protein deficiency in India and abroad. Bacillus thuriegenesis (Bt) cotton, a genetically engineered crop, according to a research conducted in India, has 80-87% better yield than non Bt cotton! Golden rice, a genetically engineered rice is a promising solution to the Vitamin A deficiency in the developing countries. The use of genetic engineering as a tool to modify fruits into oral vaccines has a tremendous potential. Imagine a person eating banana as a vaccine for Hepatitis B!
There have been many concerns raised over the safe use of GM foods which seem to be mere apprehensions lacking scientific backing. There is broad scientific consensus that genetically engineered crops currently on the market are safe to eat. After 14 years of cultivation and a cumulative total of 2 billion acres planted, no adverse health or environmental effects have resulted from commercialization of genetically engineered crops as reported by Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, Committee on Environmental Impacts Associated with Commercialization of Transgenic Plants, National Research Council and Division on Earth and Life Studies in 2002. European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation in 2010 said that the processes of genetic engineering and conventional breeding are no different in terms of unintended consequences to human health and the environment. According to Committee on Identifying & Assesing Unintended Effects on Genetically Engineered Foods on Human Health & National Research Council conventional crops have by and large been unregulated as compared to GM crops which are regulated by governmental agencies like US Department of Agriculure and Environmental Protection Agency .Another concern about GM crops is the high cost of seeds. The GM crop technology is a costly technology and has been a monopoly of some private players like Monsanto (US), Syngenta (Swiss), Groupe Limagrain ( France) who add the technology fees to the basic cost of seed. Moreover, the 100% replacement rate of the seeds also makes it hectic for marginal and small scale farmers to adopt.
The governments must device policies to fund the research and development and make the seeds affordable for common masses by public-private partnerships, regulations of international trade, ensuring biosafety. Bil and Milinda Gates foundation, Harvest Plus, European Commission have funded Golden Rice Project which is a positive sign.
As the Spiderman is advised, ‘With power, comes responsibility’! Owing to the immense potential , there is a huge responsibility which must be mutually shared by the scientific community, the Governments and the private players. The future belongs to the GM crops. Let us hope that these ‘supercrops’ save the world from the demons of visible and hidden hunger!
(The author is pursuing Masters in ‘Animal Genetics and Breeding’ at National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana.)
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