{"id":14152,"date":"2021-03-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/01-03-2021\/genetically-modified-organisms-gmos\/"},"modified":"2021-03-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T00:00:00","slug":"genetically-modified-organisms-gmos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/01-03-2021\/genetically-modified-organisms-gmos","title":{"rendered":"Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In News: <\/strong>Recently<strong>, FSSAI issued<\/strong> an order to <strong>set the permissible limit <\/strong>for<strong> adventitious presence\u201d<\/strong> of <strong>GMOs at one percent<\/strong> .<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The term adventitious presence refers to <strong>unintentional or incidental presence<\/strong> of <strong>trace amounts of GM material in non-GM crops<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>In August 2020, FSSAI had issued the order that 24 food crops the country imports would need a<strong> \u2018non-GM-origin-cum-GM-free certificate<\/strong>\u2019 issued by a competent authority.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>About Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)-<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They\u00a0 are living organisms <strong>whose genetic material <\/strong>has been <strong>artificially manipulated <\/strong>in a l<strong>aboratory through genetic engineering<\/strong> in order to favour the expression of desired physiological traits or the generation of desired biological products<\/li>\n<li>This creates <strong>combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and virus genes<\/strong> that do not <strong>occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Most GMOs have been<strong> engineered to withstand t<\/strong>he<strong> direct application of herbicide and\/or to produce an insecticide. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>However, new <strong>technologies <\/strong>are now <strong>being used to artificially develop<\/strong> other traits in plants, such as a <strong>resistance to browning in apples,<\/strong> and to <strong>create new organisms using synthetic biology. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Genetically Modified( GM )Crops<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They are that type of plants <strong>whose DNA has been modified through genetic engineering<\/strong> for <strong>embedding a new trait<\/strong> to the <strong>plant which does not occur naturally in the species. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>G<strong>enetic engineering<\/strong> aims to <strong>transcend the genus barrie<\/strong>r by <strong>introducing an alien gene in the seeds to get the desired effects<\/strong> and t<strong>he alien gene could be from a plant, an animal or even a soil bacterium.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Across the world, GM variants of maize, canola and soybean etc , are available.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Advantages &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It improves <strong>production and raises the farmer\u2019s income. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It <strong>reduces<\/strong> the <strong>use of pesticide and insecticide<\/strong> during farming that might be great <strong>moves for the betterment of the food supply.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It can feed a <strong>rapidly increasing population<\/strong> because it shows<strong> dramatically increased yields.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It can <strong>produce more in small areas of land.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Disadvantages:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The production imposes <strong>high risks to the disruption of ecosystem<\/strong> and biodiversity because the <strong>\u201cbetter\u201d traits produced from engineering genes<\/strong> can result in the <strong>favouring of one organism. <\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Hence, it can <strong>eventually disrupt the natural process of gene flow<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It increases the <strong>cost of cultivation<\/strong> and <strong>more inclined towards <\/strong>marketization of farming that works on immoral profits.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>transgenic crops endanger <\/strong>not only farmers but also the trade, and the environment as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>GM crops in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bt cotton, the only <strong>GM crop that is allowed<\/strong> in <strong>India since\u00a0 2002<\/strong>, has two alien genes from the <strong>soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)<\/strong> that allows the <strong>crop to develop<\/strong> a <strong>protein toxic to the common pest pink bollworm<\/strong> and the other is <strong>Ht Bt cotton<\/strong> which is derived with <strong>the insertion of an additional gene<\/strong>, from <strong>another soil bacterium<\/strong>, which allows the <strong>plant to resist the common herbicide glyphosat<\/strong>e.<\/li>\n<li>In <strong>Bt brinjal, a gene permits<\/strong> the plant to <strong>resist attacks of fruit and shoot borers.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Previously, the government has put on hold the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard due to stiff opposition from anti-GM activists and NGOs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The legal position GM crops in India<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In India, the <strong>Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) i<\/strong>s the apex body that <strong>allows for commercial release of GM crops<\/strong> and <strong>works under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&#038;CC).<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is responsible for <strong>the appraisal of activities <\/strong>involving<strong> large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants<\/strong> in <strong>research and industrial production from the environmental angle.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The committee is <strong>also responsible for the appraisal of proposals <\/strong>relating to the release of<strong> genetically engineered (GE) organisms<\/strong> and products into the environment including <strong>experimental field trials.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Use of the unapproved GM variant can attract a jail term of 5 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Environmental Protection Act,1989.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Regulation of Imported Crops:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The task of regulating GMO levels in imported consumables was initially with the <strong>Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union environment ministry.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Its role was diluted with the <strong>enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 <\/strong>and<strong> FSSAI was asked to take over approvals of imported goods.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:735px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"vertical-align:top; width:468.0pt\">\n<p><strong>Food Safety and Standards Authority of India<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It has been established under the <strong>Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006<\/strong>, which <strong>consolidates various acts and orders <\/strong>that have hitherto <strong>handled food-related issues.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It works as an <strong>autonomous body <\/strong>established under the <strong>Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Aims:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>To establish a <strong>single reference point<\/strong> for all matters relating to <strong>food safety and standards.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>To lay down s<strong>cience-based standards<\/strong> for <strong>articles of food and to regulate the<\/strong>ir <strong>manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import <\/strong>to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/news\/health\/fssai-s-gmo-threshold-for-imported-food-crops-unacceptably-high-says-letter-to-health-minister-75675#:~:text=The%20threshold%20for%20adventitious%20presence,products%20other%20than%20food%20crops.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source :DTH <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News: Recently, FSSAI issued an order to set the permissible limit for adventitious presence\u201d of GMOs at one percent . The term adventitious presence refers to unintentional or incidental presence of trace amounts of GM material in non-GM crops. In August 2020, FSSAI had issued the order that 24 food crops the country imports [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4836070current-affairs (1).jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}