‘It would be dangerous to approve Bt Brinjal’

Dr Bhargava,who was one of the two people who coined the term ‘Genetic Engineering’ in 1973,said he was not against its use.

“It is a fantastic technology. It has helped in making drugs like insulin and bringing down the price of the Hepatitis B vaccine. However,in these cases,the microbes are not released in the environment. In case of plants,we would be exposing the environment to harmful effects,” he said. Dr Bhargava added that safety assessment tests needed to be conducted.

“There are 30 tests that need to be done before approving genetically modified plants but these have not been conducted in the case of Bt Brinjal. Experiments on animals have shown it is harmful. So the effect would be the same on human beings.

The insistence of the government to introduce Bt Brinjal is due to the nexus between the MNCs,politicians,bureaucrats and the US.

Incentives are offered to them to introduce Bt Brinjal,” said Dr Bhargava.

He claims he had also written to the Environment minister on October 20,saying the expert panel of GEAC was under pressure to clear Bt Brinjal.

Bhargava said the head of the panel,Arjuna Reddy,had made a confidential call to him a couple of weeks before the October 14 meeting,saying he had agreed with his (Bhargava’s) recommendation for eight tests on Bt Brinjal that were not done.

Reddy said even the tests that had been conducted might not have been satisfactory and adequate. Bhargava is in the city for a discussion on ‘Bt Brinjal: Prospects and Concerns’ to be held on Monday.