Gene-Edited Plants

Subject – Environment

Context – ‘Approve norms for gene-edited plants without delay’

Concept –

With an “inordinate delay” in pronouncing safety norms for gene-edited plants delaying research, a group of pro-biotechnology intellectuals and scientists have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over the undue delay.
Seeking his attention to hasten the process, the India Agriculture Advancement Group (IAAG) International said that the Draft Guidelines for Safety Assessment of Genome and Gene-Edited Plants were already reviewed by an expert committee constituted by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
- They were later endorsed by the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM) before it was forwarded to the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). Regulatory trials
The GEAC, which works under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, is the nodal agency for giving approvals to agribiotech companies for agri biotechnology trials.
They argue that the genome-editing plants under the category that are in question do not require any regulatory trials as these are similar to other varieties and hybrids bred through conventional plant breeding.