A Bolt from the Dish

In the recent past the Bt Bringjal issue is taking the heat of the environment scenario in India. On 19th Jan 2010 the 3rd National Consultation on Bt Brinjal was held in Ahmadabad. The significance is that our honorable minister of state for environment and forest Shri Jairam Ramesh was present and taken account of the views from the farmers and Scientist in support / protest to introduce this Genetically Modified (GM) Brinjal in Indian market. The farmers who once benefited from the high yield of GM Cotton in Gujarat and Rajasthan, are supporting the issue from their commercial point of view. Some scientist from Agricultural University gave their report eulogizing the Bt Bringal growth and produce but yet kept silence on the impact of the toxin of this GM vegetable on the living body.

We are not a genetic expert or a knowledgeable person in this field . But we should not also be washed away with the one sided viewes of some interested people. Still we have to keep our eye open and should know what is going on as this issue may once be a question of our Life & Death. This may be a great impact on our human kind. This may lead to a long range effect which may change the face of the life.

Now what is this Bt Brinjal ? Why there is so hue & Cry on this issue. That is required to be known first before giving any thought on the issue.

This Bt Brinjal was created by inserting a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) found in the soil. This bacteria produces Bt toxin, a protein which has a deadly effect on insects. The insertion of this gene in the Brinjal cell makes the Brinjal plant resistant against insect attack. The Bt Toxin disrupts the digestion process of the insect leading to its premature death and in turn enhance more production of Brinjal. This particular Bt Brinjal was developed by a Seeds company of India.

The long run effect of this Bt toxin on the human being is not yet been established and its cascading effect on the living body is also not known to us. So we should be more cautious before introducing this Bt Brinjal in our dish as nature will not forgive us if we take any upper hand.

I wonder all this modern development should not make us Cibophobic in future.