08/05/11

After BT cotton, Mahyco (India) bets on genetically modified okra & rice

The genetically modified vegetable BT brinjal may be still mired in controversy but that has not deterred its maker Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co (Mahyco) from going ahead with BT okra (ladies finger) and rice. According to Usha Barwale Zehr, joint director of research at Mahyco, the company is currently conducting bio-safety tests for BT okra and rice, and once they are done, permission will be sought for field trials.

08/05/11

Anti-HIV drug made by GM plants begins UK trials in humans

An antiviral drug synthesised by genetically modified plants is being tested on a small number of women in the UK to establish its safety, bringing closer the possibility of cheap modern medicines for the developing world. The drug’s developers hope it can be used to prevent HIV infection, but the real breakthrough is that the research demonstrates it is possible for similar molecules – known as monoclonal antibodies – to be produced relatively cheaply in plants to the high standards needed for their use in humans. [...] Pharma-Planta is a project launched seven years ago with the objective of using GM plants to slash the cost of drugs that are hard to produce.

Indian cotton breeders fear backlash due to overdependence on Bt cotton

Since the introduction of genetically modified cotton crop, which accounts more than 90% in the total area under cotton in the country, there has been a fear of genetic erosion and loss of biodiversity, a group of reputed cotton breeders have expressed. [...] ”Research on cotton gene has gone backward by more than 10 years as scientists have simply stopped working on the genetic mechanism of controlling bolwarm pests,” SS Patil, senior Cotton Breeder, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (Karnataka) told FE. He said due to overdependence on GM crop farmers have lost their traditional knowledge on seed production.

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