GM foods mean that foods are made to have some ‘novel’ characterstics so that they can resist pests on their own or contain chemicals which are toxic to pests which normally attack them.
The concern that this campaign points out is that genes of sexually incompatible species are being interchanged. Spider, scorpion, toxic bacteria and even human genes are being introduced into such commonly consumed food such as brinjal, cabbage, cowpeas, okra and even rice. The idea is to make the crops toxic to pests but without bothering to investigate the affect on humans.
Laboratory experiments on rats has revealed that upon being fed genetically modified food, these rats displayed symptoms of immune system damage, stunted growth, misshapen cell structures in different organs, organ damage particularly to liver and kidneys, bleeding ulcers in stomach, reduced digestive enzymes, inflamed lung tissue, higher offspring mortality, etc.
BT brinjal – the first food crop under evaluation – is all set to be introduced in the Indian market before year-end by a Maharashtra based company.
The BT Brinjal variety, awaiting central government clearance for commercial release, will be the first Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB) vegetable biotech crop to benefit farmers who face nine per cent losses in fruit damage and up to 70 per cent in commercial plantings in India, sources at Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co, which is developing the BT brinjal, said.
They claimed the crop has undergone rigorous scientific evaluation to assess its food safety, environmental safety, human and animal health, safety and biodiversity. (The TIMES OF INDIA)
But the reality is different as seen above.
So why the Government is ignoring everything so here is one of the reason.
Scientists have estimated that BT Brinjal will deliver farmers a net economic benefit ranging from Rs 16,299 (330 USD to Rs 19,744 per (397 USD) acre with national benefits to India exceeding 400 million USD per year, the sources said.
But who is gonna take into account the social cost and environmental cost associated with introduction of GM foods.I cant express it in numbers as the above profit numbers.
Many of us are aware of I AM NO LAB RAT campaign.
These guys are actually working on creating awareness about the ill effects of GM foods.
Lets get back to our friend Brinjal and his not so good friend BT Brinjal.
Nice article, Ragesh. I hope u did not cut paste this. Was interesting to read.
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