I AM NO LAB RAT – SIGN THE PETITION !
When i was a kid i liked Baingan Ka Bhartha(An Indian Dish Made of Brinjals) like anything.My mom used to make it for me whenever i wanted it.Everytime i used to visit home this dish was always there on my wishlist.This time when i went home and asked for it Mom said we have stopped buying brinjals.They have some issue.It was shown on the news.Then she told that they are genetically modified or are about to be so to avoid risk we are not buying.
I was heartbroken but thats true.Soon Aloo Baingan ,Bhartha and other delicacies will be not safe.As BT Brinjal and other GM(Genetically Modified) foods are set to flock indian markets.
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.
The experiments on Rats have shown shocking results.
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.
BT Brinjal, as the name suggests, contains the toxin producing gene from the toxic bacteria Bacillus Thuringiensis, in an effort to kill the pests like fruit and stem borer(FSB). However, what affect this toxic brinjal will have on humans who consumed it is not being investigated. Independent research has revealed that the Bt toxin is not destroyed by cooking and has the ability to interfere with the gut bacteria in humans.
Sounds Scary!
Dodge this,GM foods are mainly about patenting seeds and handing over the ownership of the world’s food to a few American multinationals.
If you are intelligent and care about yourself , Send the petition to Dr Manmohan Singh,PM,India.Click the button below(courtesy iamnolabrat.com)
Please Visit : www.iamnolabrat.com
Also visit about the Brinjal Festival by IAMNOLABRAT Guys : http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126409361123&ref=nf
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14 Comments »
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I don’t agree with the petition. This petition is made by some hackneyed user or group which doesn’t want the prosperity of the Indian Farmers.
Tackling some of the misconceptions of BT Crops…
1. The Bacillus thuringiensis toxins called as Cry toxins affect only the insect hosts. You dont have to worry unless you are an insect
The toxins are inactive in the plant. Only a select group of crop harming insects can convert this inactive protein to its toxic form. That only happens inside the insects gut when the insect consumes a large amount of BT crop.
BT crops are perfectly safe for humans…
This link will surely put your minds to rest..
http://www.scitopics.com/Bacillus_thuringiensis_Cry_toxins.html
Another allegation against BT crops is that as they have been inserted with a foreign gene they are harmful.. Which is absolutely absurd..
Humans have been selectively growing crops and animals over many centuries that they are not at all like their wild ancestors and are completely new species.. This effect of domestication is seen throughout all the species man has specifically grown. But BT is just another tool to speed up the process.. But there has to sufficient check in place with rigourous testing which is there in India..
So there is no need to worry atleast with BT crops..
Your various concerns about BT Crops are adequately answered through the World Health Organization Link..
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/index.html
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whoa! Strong words Sushant!
first of all iamnolabrat.com is not hackneyed user or group.Its a well established one.Many big personalities are part of IAMNOLABRAT.
I can post 100 links here which can prove that GM foods are harmful.
Only because you are a Biotechnologist all these things cant be right.
Even when we spray an insect spray or a pesticide we remain away from it for a long time and this is about actually putting the toxin in.And it has been proved that its not destroyed even by cooking.You are saying on basis of just two websites that please take risk and consume such vegetables.
The government has not investigated for effects on humans because biotechnologist like you keep on giving such links.
One of your links says “GM foods currently available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health.”
ARE NOT LIKELY TO.The link is not even confident of writing that no harm to the health is there.Likely to haha!
So many tests are being conducted because all know this seems unsafe.
So better think once and you can understand it better as you are a BIOTECHNOLOGY Graduate!
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Some weblinks worth reading and making up your mind on GM foods
different aspects of GM :
http://www.kicsforum.net/docsweb/Final_GM/GM-Contents-Food-Security.html
http://www.raw-wisdom.com/genetically-modified-food
Failure to yield @ GM crops
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-to-yield.html
Read and save yourself
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Hey Sushant i think you should check these links too !
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Sushant, on the WHO link shared by you there is a question:
Q8. Are GM foods safe?
Different GM organisms include different genes inserted in different ways. This means that individual GM foods and their safety should be assessed on a ***case-by-case*** basis and that it is not possible to make general statements on the safety of all GM foods.
GM foods currently available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not ***likely*** to present risks for human health. In addition, no effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved. ***Continuous use of risk assessments*** based on the Codex principles and, where appropriate, including post market monitoring, should form the basis for evaluating the safety of GM foods.
As i see it the answer itself doesn’t draw a clear picture as to the GM food is safe of not (or else the reply would have been: “Yes GM foods are safe”). Also if you see the highlighted keywords, there is uncertainty involved. And Frankly speaking i don’t think anybody wants to deliberately introduce a factor of uncertainty in matters concerning one’s health (and in this case the health of the future generations)
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hi Sushant!,
I’m a chemical engineer and is a part of the campaign.. Being an engineer I’m not against any technology.. I welcome it but prove it before you bring in to the system….. and that too in case of the agriculture and food consumption. The campaign has been majorly focusing on raising awareness to the citizens that they have right to informed choice of food…. India has no regulations on the medical front / no tests are being carried out by the government before approving BT Brinjal in to the food cycle and remember once its introduced you don’t have any option of going back to the natural / organic farming as the land fertility gets toxicated as well. There are proven facts that GM foods create adverse health effects on human beings [not only on animals]… more over the BT Cotton which was introduced into India with the claim that it would solve the entire problem on the Cotton belt have led its way to the increased number of farmers committing suicide…..
you should also visit http://indiagminfo.com to read more materials.. as you being a bio tech student you should understand this better than us.
Best,
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GOOD JOB,VERY RELEVENT
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I agree that any technology has its own associated risks and so does GM crops. Each technology should be adequately tested before it is introduced..
I am not against traditional crops, people must have a choice as to which variety they consume. As correctly pointed out by Puneet, the WHO considers GM crops case by case, because there is substantial distrust about GM crops in the public domain.
All crops are associated with allergies, peanut and milk are natural produce; but still have high rates of allergy as high as 10% in certain races. Does it then justify banning these items altogether.
Humans have been practicing selection of certain genes through thousands of years through agriculture and it has modified them so much that even close relatives are not found in the wild. Also another question… should green revolution be abandoned because it used “FOREIGN” dwarf species of wheat? It is currently polluting the natural wheat varieties found in the plains of Punjab.
What about the Pthalates found in all PVC plastics? Should it be banned? Phosphoric acid in Coke and Pepsi? Should government stop the sales?
These are all hazy grey areas to which no one has any definite answers.
But at the same time one should not be misled by random facts stated by people or websites against GM crops.
Do you know there are more theaths due to pesticide accidents in half a year, than no death by any GM crp till now..
Also, the opposition to GM crops is against farmers. Do you want farmers to take debts and spray pesticides which everyone knows finds our way to our table and in our body.
http://www.texasep.org/html/pes/pes_3hum.html
As Selva Ganapathy rightly pointed out, the technology should be adequately tested before introducting in the field and there is a code of conduct for doing so. India should legalize the system and just not oppose GM crops blindly. Finally each consumer should be given a choice as to the produce he/ she consumes…
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Dude you are now losing the track. You mean that if all bad chemicals like in plastics or other pesticides are allowed so why not these brilliant comparison what i get from you is we adapted to them so why not GM. As puneet and others have pointed out that even WHO is not supporting them straight away so why to let this thing happen in the first place think logically sushant keep your bio tech degree aside for a minute and think and give us logical reasons. The fight of giving links to each other is unstoppable but truth will prevail
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What I mean is that even though currently we are using products like plastics and pesticides which have been proved that they cause side effects; but still we do use them in our lives. Any technology in the world has its own pros and cons. The technology is only introduced when the benefits outweigh the potential harmful effects…
If you want to be rid of all the ill effects, I suggest go and stay in the wild where you will fully realize the negative effects of nature..
In the case of GM crops, again the studies need to be carried out, but proven GM crops should not be stopped from implementation in the farms due to whimsical reasons…
Try to find some good reasons for BT Brinjal on which some real statistical data is gathered.. not some general talk
While all GM crops may not be introduced; the ones which have been introduced for human consumption have a huge positive impact on the nutrition and health of the farmers all over the world. Try just try searching for “Golden Rice” and how it is improving the quality of poor across Africa.
http://www.goldenrice.org/
Just like pharma industry which has about 30 failed drugs for each successful drug; but the one successful drug cures millions of lives…
GM crops is the same pill for todays agricultural industry..
And one more thing, being a biotechnologist does not influence my views.. Just give me hardcore facts and please try to think more logically….
You are doing an MBA and hence I think you would be able to do the same….
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Here is your own quotation
“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”
But what has made you write the second para without any justifying facts?
Give me some research links on the social as well as environmental cost of BT Brinjal….
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See yaar ! you are taking everything to the heart in a very bad way.I dont want to reply you more.
All have their own beliefs and inderstanding of the situation.
You have your own firm beliefs due to obvious reasons.Which are not changeable so just one thing thanks for the comments
which gave us a new angle to see the issue.
I suggest you too own a blog so please make it a platform to ‘enlighten’ people about the goodness of GM foods.
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GM food can cause the biggest health crisis’ (17 july 2009)
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/\gm-food-can-causebiggest-health-crisis\/364139/
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Thnx Anirban interesting revelation!
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