Supreme Court Concern on GM Mustard
Source: The Hindu
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Overview
- News in Brief
- 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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