• UGI USER
  • Jan 12, 2024
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GM MUSTARD

Why in the News?

  • Recently, Supreme Court questioned Centre on GM mustard
Source: Tribune India

About News

  • The Supreme Court, on January 11, questioned the government regarding the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) and its consideration of reports from the Technical Experts Committee (TEC) on transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11’s biosafety before approving its environmental release.
  • Attorney General R. Venkataramani, representing the Centre, defended GEAC as a statutory body, emphasizing its examination of relevant scientific data prior to granting approval.
  • Justice Nagarathna expressed concern about dissenting notes in the TEC’s reports and inquired if these reports would be archived without further action.
  • Venkataramani highlighted that the regulatory framework for environmental risk assessment of GM crops had been strengthened since 2012, ensuring transparency and science-based evaluation, and cited GM mustard’s conditional approval as a testament to this enhanced framework.

GM Mustard (DMH-11):

  • It is developed from Herbicide Tolerant (HT) mustard.
  • Created through a cross between Indian mustard variety ‘Varuna’ and East European ‘Early Heera-2’ mustard.
  • Contains two alien genes (‘barnase’ and ‘barstar’) from the soil bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.
  • These genes enable the breeding of high-yielding commercial mustard hybrids.
  • ‘Barnase’ induces temporary sterility, preventing natural self-pollination, while ‘barstar’ allows seed production.
  • DMH-11 has demonstrated higher yields compared to standard checks and received approval from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).
  • The “Bar gene” is used to maintain the genetic purity of hybrid seeds.