6. Beginning of GMOs
• 1981 Monsanto scientists had come up with
the first genetically modified plant
7. First in the Field
• The first field test of a
genetically modified
organism occurred in
1986 in US
Frostban was sprayed on a
field of strawberries
Americans protested
against GMO’s
8. Moving Forward
• US opposition to
genetically altered foods
did not last very long
• FDA declared GM foods
to be “not inherently
dangerous” in 1993.
• Americans began to
accept GMO
16. Bt Corn: What is it?
• eliminate the threat of
the corn borer
• Bacillus thuringiensis
• less effective against
insects in later stages
of growth.
17. Flavr Savr® Tomatoes
• Approved for market
by the FDA in 1994
• extra copy of a gene
that codes for enzyme
polygalacturonase
19. Bt cotton
• Contains a foreign
gene obtained from
bacillus thuringiensis.
• Protects the plants
from bollworm
20.
21. ADVANTAGES OF GMOs
• Pest resistance
• Herbicide tolerance
• Disease resistance
• Cold tolerance
• Drought tolerance
22. Helping to form an healthier world
• Nutrition
• Pharmaceuticals
• Phytoremediation
23. CRITICISMS AGAINST GM CROPS
• Environmental hazards
• Unintended harm to other organisms
• Reduced effectiveness of pesticides
• Gene transfer to non-target species
24. HUMAN HEALTH RISK
• Allergenicity
• Unknown effects on
human health
26. Moral Issues
• Moving genes from animals to plants gets
you into a whole moral, religious, and
political firestorm..."
27. How India fits in the picture of
GM Crops?
• India one of the six leading
countries that are
conducting field trials of
GM crops
Highest acreage of Monsanto’s GMO
Bt cotton
28. Bt cotton in India
• In June 2002, about 55,000 cotton farmers decided to
grow Bt cotton
• Resist bollworm
29. Impacts of Monsanto’s Bt cotton
• Created a suicide economy in
India
• Non-renewable seeds
• Rs 7/kg to Rs 17,000/kg
• Bt-cotton needs irrigation
• created new pests
• 13 times more pesticides
• High costs and unreliable
output
30. Indian farmers suffered a lot…
• Andhra Pradesh 79% of the crop was lost
• Madhya Pradesh 100% of the crop was lost
• Maharastra Bt crop has failed across 30,000 hec
• In Gujarat, it was completely destroyed by the bollworm
• 200 farmers committed suicide
• Bt. Cotton failure has cost total loss of Rs. 1128 million
• Monsanto refused any compensation to the farmers
31. Monsanto going to introduce GM
potatoes in India
• 2nd of January 2003
reported the plan
• As part of an anti hunger
strategy
• gene transplanted from
amaranthus
• protein-enriched