“It takes up to $100 million to develop a gene"

Full text of an e-mail interview with Dr KK Narayanan, MD, Metahelix Life Sciences (P) Ltd, a Bangalore-based agri-biotech company, and member of the executive council of Association of Biotechnology led Enterprises. He has led the 'Crop Transformation and Functional Genomics' programme at the Monsanto Research Centre, Bangalore. Narayanan has a PhD from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and a post-doctoral Rockefeller Foundation fellowship. He is member of several committees and central government's advisory bodies including the task force on Agricultural Biotechnology and the Working Group on Bio-safety Regulations.

Q: Is it true that most foods processed in the US have genetically modified corn or soya and that most people don't know anything about what they are eating? Is this aspect of health assessment important? Do you think the government should get more active with that since number of food inspections seem to be reducing drastically with time?

A: Firstly, it is incorrect to say that most people do not know what they are eating. The fact that biotech crops are being cultivated successfully and safely for 13 years now in 25 countries is a testament that people are seeing value in these technologies. Globally the biotech crops grown include soybean, maize, cotton, canola, squash, papaya, alfalfa, sugarbeet, tomato, and sweet pepper, among others. Today, 57 countries including Japan, USA, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Australia, the Philippines, the European Union, New Zealand and China have granted regulatory approvals for biotech crops for import for food and feed use and for release into the environment since 1996. Every time that a technology is introduced in a country, it undergoes stringent tests by an independent regulatory body. A wide panel of food, plant and scientific experts ensure safe introduction of plant biotechnology for the benefit of the nation.
 
In India, MOEF's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has put in place a stringent science-based regulatory regime comprising three ministries - ministry of science and technology, environment & forests, and agriculture. The entire regulatory process takes four-seven years and no biotech crops are allowed in the market until they undergo extensive and rigid crop safety assessments, following strict scientific protocols. In fact, as a nation we tested the only approved biotech crop in India - Bt cotton, for seven years prior to its approval in 2002 (the longest globally).