Supreme Court Concern on GM Mustard

Source: The Hindu
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Overview

1. News in Brief
2. Genetically Modified Crops

Why in the News?

The Supreme Court has raised concerns regarding the biosafety of transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11, which has been approved by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) for environmental release.

News in Brief

• The Supreme Court questioned the Centre on why reports of the court-appointed Technical Experts Committee (TEC) on the biosafety of genetically modified (GM) crops were not looked into by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).
• The GEAC functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
• It has been tasked with the appraisal of proposals relating to the “release” of GM organisms and products (ordinarily considered hazardous) into the environment.
• A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol asked Attorney General R Venkataramani whether the GEAC considered the TEC reports before the October 25, 2022 decision to approve the environmental release of transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11.

Genetically Modified Crops

• GM technology involves inserting DNA into the genome of an organism.
• Plants can be genetically modified by inserting a particular DNA sequence into their genome to confer new or different traits.
• This can include altering the plant’s growth pattern or providing disease resistance to it.
• The additional DNA is incorporated into the genome of the GM plant, which is what the seeds generated by these plants will do.
• Over the years, there has been a heated discussion around GM crops.
• Benefits cited by their supporters include an increase in production, lower input costs, increased insect resistance, and a decreased demand for pesticides.
• The critics assert that these crops have a negative influence on food security and human health.

GM Mustard

• The Delhi University Center for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants created the genetically altered mustard variety known as DMH (Dhara Mustard Hybrid)-11.
• In DMH-11 mustard genes from soil bacterium makes mustard — generally a self-pollinating plant — better suited to hybridisation than current methods.
• The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GMEC) approved the commercial production of Mustard DMH-11 in 2022.

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