M2L4: Agricultural biotechnology-I

In the last lecture, we saw the applications of biotechnology in various fields. In this lecture, we will look at the use of Biotechnology in agriculture.

Pls refer the following image. It shows, what vegetables and crops are grown using Genetic modification

So, we have GM crops that provide us higher yields, more nutrition, higher resistance to pest etc. The most important question is, do they sustain it over time? This chapter will dig deep into it

How to do critical analysis for UPSC? 1.            Break the issue into compartments by figuring out what important factors are embedded in this entire issue. Social? Societal? Cultural? Biological? Individual? Gender? Psychological? Geographical? Historical? Environmental? Evolutionary? Scientific? Ethical? Administrative? Governmental? Federal? Legal? Political? Economic? Global (Stability, Peace & Security)? Sustainable Development Goals? Urban v/s Rural? Natural v/s artificial? 2.            To settle an issue in a larger picture, raise the questions one by one. For example, in order to know if a policy is sustainable in long term, you can ask yourself the following questions one by one.       i.        To what extent does it maintain the integrity of the environment? This will cover atmosphere, water, land, biodiversity, climate change and energy, waste and liquid effluents     ii.        To what extent is it economically resilient? That will cover return on investment and profitability, impact on local economy, vulnerability due to changes in external environment, awareness about product quality and information etc.    iii.        Does it involve aspects of good governance? This will provide you with answers regarding if the policy involves holistic management, rule of law, inclusive participation, bureaucratic accountability, corporate ethics etc.    iv.        What is the impact on society? To what extent does it promote social wellbeing, decent livelihood, equity, labor rights, territorial integrity of tribal lands and forest dwellers, human Safety and health, cultural diversity? Does it include neglected/ marginalized sections of the society, the vulnerable groups etc. 3.            Identify the premises/assumptions on which the theory/argument is built upon. Try to ask yourself if the conditions that triggered that development of the policy when it was made really exists in practice in present time? What was the guiding philosophy for it at that time? etc. 4.            Out of different factors involved in a larger picture, be specific which ones are involved. Ask yourself what would have been the possible impact if they were not remedied or the selective intervention would not have been made by the government. 5.            Ask yourself if the policy was in fact successful in remedying the issue. Even if it were partially, does it provide a convincing argument for mounting and refining the policy 6.            Articulate the points that are supposed to be used during answer writing. Then write the answer in a proper format and pattern with the issue involved, with its explanation, clearly and precisely. 7.            Identify the salient points that are needed to adequately answer it. In the end, show how will the policy can be made successful.

We will start with Bt cotton and then go to GM Mustard.

Bt cotton is basically a transgenic crop.

In case of cisgenic crops, the genes are taken from the same family of species. This is already done by the farmers who resort to traditional practices like cross pollination to develop better quality of crops in the next generation. For example, when a sunflower with better fragrance is pollinated with sunflower producing more oil, chances are that the next generation may carry both the characteristics, provided the alleles of both the genes get dominant. However, in almost 90% cases, it has been found that, the farmers are unable to get the features immediately in the next generation and developing seeds of that kind, needs trial and error for at least a decade.

When India got independent, we had max 33 crore of population. Now our population is more than 130 crore and growing. So, do we have the luxury of time, to allow our farmers wait and do trials for ten years? Even if we allow them to do so, the chances of obtaining the desired variety in the next generation is not 100% complete.

So, what is the solution to this problem? Biotechnology offers a quick and easy fix to this issue. We can make a new crop variety overnight by taking a DNA strand from some other species that offers desired trait and then adjust it in the DNA of the selected crop variety to achieve the combination of that crop variety with the desired trait value. One such type of crop is Bt cotton.

In transgenic varieties like Bt cotton, the gene CRY1ac producing the toxic protein is obtained from soil bacterium Bacillus Thuringensis. This gene is then inserted into cotton. Once this gene is inserted into cotton plants, we get a cotton plant that fights pests on its own. It has now become a bio-pesticides.

But the natural isolate cannot be straight away inserted into the cotton genome. It has to be modified for the plant to accept it. This gene construct when inserted can lodge anywhere in the plant genome. There are hundreds of possibilities. The production of the toxin, its potency, the crop yield, its quality and other properties of the plant can be affected by the location of the insertions. Each of these insertions is called an “event” and undergoes screening to check, if the modified genome gives the set of desired results. This screening is done through transcriptome analysis or proteomic analysis (the set of proteins that the genes have coded). Later, the seed material is passed through further steps of hybridization to suit local conditions, before rolling out into the market.

How does the gene express itself? To understand this, I will first give an example and then create an analogy. Suppose, I want to eat Dhokla. I called my wife and told her that I am sending a recipe to her. She is supposed to prepare the dish exactly as per the given instructions in the recipe. Next day, I intend to eat Gathiya. I sent her a recipe and she prepared it that way. On the third day, I want to eat Laddoo. I sent her the recipe for it and she prepared it for me. Now, a similar kind of thing, happens inside the cell. In the former example, replace me with the dominant gene, recipe with transcript and the ribosome with my wife. When the dominant gene wants to express itself, it sends a recipe to ribosome. This recipe is called as transcript and is sent via mRNA. The ribosome decodes the script and prepares the dish, as per the instructions in the script. This dish is a protein. So, in order to check if the desired protein is actually produced or not by the newly lab made gene, scientists first copy the gene into a precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA). This molecule then matures into a messenger RNA or mRNA Recently, scientists have come out with a new technology, seqFISH (sequential Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization). To do, this the scientists label certain regions of the pre-mRNA. They call them as introns and the color of the barcode is fluorescent. This enables it to be immediately located, when seen under the microscope. So, when the gene starts expressing itself, these introns reveal the three-dimensional location and the transcripts, it is sending through mRNA. This helps to know, how strongly the gene is able to express itself and where it is exactly located. seqFISH can do the screening from 10s to over 10,000 of mRNAs at once.

When Bt, cotton was introduced after India opened up its economy, its use spread like wildfire. The farmers started making bumper profits since they could save their expenses on many fronts.

The farmer, could avoid using pesticides since Bt cotton itself does the same work for him. He doesn’t need to employ a person to spray the pesticide nor does he need to buy the equipment. This means, his overall investment reduced and yet, he could sell the product at market prices. Summarizing this, his net profit increased and he could come out of his debts. What does this mean for the government? As you all are already aware of, farmer’s issue is a very sensitive issue and can crumble the political stability.

When the government saw, that the farmers are coming out of their debts and their suicide rates have reduced, they saw in Bt cotton, a panacea for all the problems in farm sector.

So, we saw that farmer is able to reduce investment on so many sides. After 2012, it has been found that the same Bt cotton, that could help the farmers come out of poverty and debt trap is now the major cause of suicides in Western part of India. Why?

[1] Try to recall Darwain’ theory.

In his book, he wrote, “every organism wants to survive. It is not the strongest of them who are able to survive. But those who are most flexible and have the ability to change themselves”.

This process wherein the organism undergoes changes to adjust and adapt itself to the changing circumstances is called as evolution. Now this is not a one-sided process. Actually, it should be termed as co-evolution. I will explain this further with an example.

All of you know this thing, All-out. It is used to kill mosquitoes. It is basically an insecticide. Now you must have noticed, that every few years, they make this insecticide more intense. Why?

Because while we are trying to kill mosquitoes, they are also trying hard to survive. In order to do that, they undergo certain changes in their bodies, or start producing certain chemicals in their bodies, so that they can adapt and still survive, in the changed circumstances. Eventually, they develop resistance to it.

Similar kind of event happens in microorganisms as well. Have you heard about anti-biotic resistant TB? How does it happen? We are trying to kill bacteria using antibiotics. Eventually, they also develop resistance.

This means that Darwin’ law is universal. Every organism, in order to survive, evolves itself to adjust itself, as per the changed circumstances. Similar event happened in Bt cotton and bollworm pests.

When the farmers started using Bt cotton recklessly, the bollworm pests also started developing resistance to the toxin that was produced by Cry1ac gene. Monsanto, claimed that it gives two packets of seeds, one that contains Bt seeds and another that contains natural seeds in a ratio 70:30. This is done so as to reduce the probability of bollworm pests developing resistance against the toxin.

Since Indian farmers are mostly illiterate, they do not realize the long-term effects of their practices that involve reckless use of single variety of Bt cotton. The farmers, sell the natural seeds in black market and prefer to use only Bt seeds. As it is said, necessity is the mother of all inventions, this rule is equally applicable upon Bollworm pests as well. Since the pests do not have any other alternative and feed on only one type of Bt cotton plant, they develop resistance at a faster rate.

Adding pepper to these injuries, is the arrival of duplicate seeds in the market. These duplicate seeds are not that effective on Bollworm pests. In scenarios like this, the pests get time to recover and they become even more stronger and resistant to the toxin produced by cry1ac gene.

[2] Recall the fact, that Bt cotton is transgenic. Are there any side effects of using a transgenic product? Let us understand this by putting ourselves in the boots of the farmers.

The farmers have been plant genomes for millennia through traditionally breeding techniques. Only recently, we have started using mutagenic techniques to alter DNA of plants through radiation and chemicals and interfering in RNA by switching off targeted genes to creating new strains of wheat, rice and peanuts. Then what is the problem here?

The DNA that we have is a product of thousands of years of evolution. This evolution has happened gradually, with changing times and circumstances. What we have done is, we have taken this in our hands and speeded it exponentially through genetic engineering.

The genes of the same species. residing in the double helix of the same DNA live like the members of the same family. When an external gene is introduced, the family immediately realizes this. It tries to switch off that gene. Now think about it. Let’s say, a person has come to your house. He wants to stay only for one single day. Indian culture welcomes guests and we love hospitality. But what, if the same person wants to live permanently in your house? He is not a member of your family nor is he your blood relative. Would you like him to stay for a longer span of time? I doubt, your answer will stay affirmative in this case.

A similar phenomenon happens inside the DNA. When an external gene is introduced in the DNA ribbon, the family of genes gets disturbed. They start behaving erratically and this disturbs the stability of entire DNA. Eventually, this gives rise to new problems. This is what happens when you develop a transgenic organism. The body will show some side effects that cannot be predicted or forecasted even through transcriptome analysis. This is what happened in Bt cotton.

In case of Bt cotton, it has been found that the immunity to resist certain diseases, has reduced considerably. Add to this is the fact, that Bt cotton plant also needs more water than normal cotton plant. So, where do we ideally grow this crop? In regions where irrigation is available 24 x 7 or in the regions that are rain-fed? Since Bt cotton needs more water, I assume your answer would be irrigated lands. But, in India how much amount of land is covered under irrigation? According to the World Bank, only about 35% of total agricultural land in India was reliably irrigated in 2010. This means, that the fate of these farmers, that grow Bt cotton now depends on monsoon. And let’s not forget the role of the state government since agriculture and irrigation are subjects under State list in Schedule 7 of the Constitution of India. It has been found, that when the rains are abnormal, these Bt cotton crop fails, putting the famers at the mercy of Shroffs (moneylenders) and landlords who have given him the loans on returnable basis.

[3] Since Bt cotton is patented in USA and other countries, Monsanto tends to abuse the its monopoly position in Indian agricultural markets. The seeds have high prices attached to it. Secondly, the seeds are also sterile and they do not produce any next generation seeds. This means, that the farmer can use the seeds for only one time (be it as a fodder for animals or for growing crops).

[4] We saw, that during the green revolution, majority of the famers who were growing pulses, shifted their profession to cereals as the government awarded MSP upon them.

Similar chain of events followed after India opened up its economy and openly embraced capitalism in the year 1991. Since cotton, sugarcane, tobacco etc. are cash crops, an increasing number of farmers are found to be shifting their production from cereals to either of these cash crops to gain quick returns on their investment. Now since the Bt cotton seeds are patented, the farmers became solely dependent on the seeds provided by Monsanto. This has led to monoculture and loss of biodiversity of indigenous variety of seeds. Loss of biodiversity, reduces the number of alternatives that we have, to protect ourselves from any unseen crisis.

So, should we allow gene patenting in India? Yes or No? Should we allow transgenic products in India? Yes or No. Let us first cover the relevant provisions in India for developing transgenic varieties of seeds through the following case study.