Uncharted terrain

Poised on the brink of what has been deemed the biotech century, the future may seem highly uncertain but the mascot is visible: the doub...

Poised on the brink of what has been deemed the biotech century, the future may seem highly uncertain but the mascot is visible: the double helix. Perhaps it is only befitting then that one of its discoverers James Watson, along with M.S. Swaminathan, issued a call in Chennai for the setting up of a national commission on genetic modification of crop plants and farm animals to ensure safe and sustainable use of genetically modified organisms.

As scientists and farmers start scaling the DNA8217;s spiral stairway, the debate on the agricultural benefits of genomics has tended to blur into science fiction; visions of realising dreams of food for all with hyper-yielding, pest-devouring seeds, five-pound potatoes and plants that produce meat are punctuated by apocalyptic visions of rapacious terminator seeds and promiscuous jumping genes.

Hopefully a new regulatory body will lend a touch of realism to the debate. For starters, it will have to address three key issues. Firstly, there is the widespread worry thatagribusiness giants now wield a scientific tool to enslave Third World farmers. Mixing and splicing genes from different species to develop superior strains can be extremely expensive and agribusiness giants recover costs by patenting their products and ensuring that farmers reinvest in seeds every year.

This is already routine practice in the West, but for the average Indian farmer it could kickstart a fast slide into bankruptcy. And even if the local farmer tries to hold his own by boycotting these products, there is the looming danger of hybrids rendering his produce redundant. A related development, whereby companies are merging to offer seeds, pesticides, etc that can only be used in conjunction is also cause for disquiet. Secondly, the repercussions on biodiversity are still not clear.

As farmers take to higher-yielding genetically engineered seeds to compete with the West, there are apprehensions about a monoculture slowly smothering the local gene pool, leaving it ever more at the mercy ofagribusinesses. Such are the alarms over genetically modified produce being surreptitiously mixed with 8220;purer8221; crop that companies manufacturing tests to detect genetic alterations are reportedly hard pressed to meet rising demand.

Most importantly, there is the fear of the unknown. Genetics remains an uncharted, uncertain terrain, with the M-word forever lurking menacingly; mutation is no less a mystery now than it was forty years ago when Watson and Francis Crick presented their DNA model.

There are umpteen instances of so-called herbicide-resistant crops ceding their weapons to weeds and pests in a dramatic death wish; in fact, there is a growing belief, however unfounded, that the cotton crop failure in Andhra Pradesh recently which led to a spate of suicides can be traced to the use of genetically altered seeds. It is this dread of the unforeseen, the improbable that scientists have to tackle if they want to give a cutting edge to agricultural production. Meanwhile, agriculturists would do wellto adopt a holistic approach that combines genetics with crop rotation, pest management and ecology.