Why experts are opposing India's gene-edited rice varieties

India Today

2 days ago

The Union government recently announced it is ready to release two genome-edited rice varieties—DRR Rice 100 (Kamla) and Pusa DST Rice 1. In these varieties, a drought and salt tolerance gene has been mutated using gene-editing technology. As a result, water efficiency has increased, the plants can withstand salt better and yields are reported at 2.4 to 3.7 metric tonnes per hectare in saline and alkaline soils.According to officials, some 40 more crops are in the pipeline, using this technology. Experts, however, caution that gene editing is no different from genetic modification. Dr Krithika Yegna, a biotechnology scientist, calls it mere word play.advertisement'Gene editing cannot be achieved without modification of the genome. Any modification in the genome is still a modification,' says Dr Yegna. She adds that some scientists' claim that this method is foolproof has been disputed. There is scientific literature to show any modification done on crops may pose the risk of getting incorporated into the human genome—something researchers are slowly beginning to understand. 'The need of the hour is regulation and creating awareness,' says Dr Yegna.Independent researcher and agro-ecology practitioner Soumik Banerjee explains the genetic meddling. 'We are interfering with the DNA. We are removing elements of the DNA without knowing their function. We only talk about the positive results, but we don't know the negative ones. Nature put those genes there, and we are removing them, saying there are only positive effects. That is not possible,' says Banerjee.
He argues that technology is not foolproof and research papers confirm several off-target effects. During the process, genome sequences other than the targeted ones may get mutated, and this is irreversible. 'It changes the plant's phenotype substantially—the gene-edited plant becomes a new plant,' says Banerjee. He adds that India has many stress-tolerant and high-productivity rice varieties, which should be grown rather than adopting such risky technologies.The concern is shared by farmer activists. Kavitha Kuruganti, farmers' rights activist and convenor of the Coalition for a GM-Free India, says: 'Any gene technology in our food systems is a living technology. Once you release it into the environment, the seed germinates, flowers, and the pollen spreads. That pollen can spread uncontrollably and irreversibly.'Dr Yegna emphasises on proper government oversight. 'The first thing is to have regulatory systems in place—to check what kind of modification is being done, why it is being done and whether there is a natural alternative to achieve the same outcome without genetic modification.' She points out that even by traditional breeding methods, traits like size of corn cobs can be improved, though not as dramatically.Kuruganti adds that gene editing and all its applications must be regulated. She criticises the government's move to deregulate SDN1 and SDN2 (categories within Site-Directed Nuclease genome editing). 'Genome editing is genetic engineering. It should have been regulated by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), India's apex biotechnology regulator. Instead, they deregulated SDN1 and SDN2 and then announced these two rice varieties. We haven't seen any comprehensive, independent or long-term testing. Even in GM mustard, there were allegations of rigged tests by big corporations. The same story could be repeating here,' she cautions.advertisementAnother concern is patents. The technology is patented and licenced exclusively to multinationals like Corteva and Monsanto. Why should the Indian government promote patented seed material, asks Kuruganti. At global platforms, India says it is against patents on seeds and planting material. Promoting these patented rice varieties contradicts that stand. 'Farmers in India have always treated seed as open-source, shared across generations. Patented technologies undermine both livelihood security and food security,' says Kuruganti.The viewpoints emerged in the webinar 'Understanding Gene-Edited Rice and Its Implications', organized by the Coalition for a GM-Free India. With experts agreeing that gene editing must be brought under biosafety regulation, some key questions arise. What is the need for such a technology, after all? Are there alternatives? And can governments push untested technologies on citizens without debate or scientific scrutiny?advertisementSubscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends