‘Environmental release’ of herbicide-tolerant cotton, C-295 aircraft, CRISPR, Anti-superstition laws

‘Environmental release’ of herbicide-tolerant cotton

After Delhi University’s transgenic hybrid mustard, India’s biotechnology regulator is set to recommend the “environmental release” of genetically modified (GM) cotton of German multinational company Bayer AG that allows farmers to spray the herbicide glyphosate.

What

1. The transgenic cotton — Bollgard II Roundup Ready Flex (BG-II RRF) — contains three alien genes, the first two (‘cry1Ac’ and ‘cry2Ab’) being isolated from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, and coding for proteins toxic to the American bollworm, spotted bollworm and tobacco caterpillar insect pests.
2. The third gene, ‘cp4-epsps’, is sourced from another soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumafaciens. Its incorporation into cotton makes the crop “tolerant” to glyphosate.
3. This herbicide cannot be applied on normal cotton, as the chemical does not distinguish between the crops and weeds.
4. The regulatory body, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), in a meeting on 27 July, had constituted an expert sub-committee under Department of Biotechnology (DBT) scientist Sanjay Kumar Mishra to conduct a detailed review of the application by Mahyo Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, the licensee for the BG-II RRF technology in India.
5. BG-II RRF cotton had already undergone biosafety research and field trials by 2012-13. The dossier containing the results of these trials was submitted by its original developer, Monsanto, to the GEAC in March 2013.
6. Amid the regulatory uncertainty and no decision being taken, the American company withdrew its application seeking environmental release of the herbicide-tolerant GM cotton product.
7. In 2018, Monsanto was acquired by Bayer, following which the latter, through Mahyco, resubmitted its application early this year.

Key Points

• Bt Cotton:
  
  
  • Bt cotton is the only transgenic crop that has been approved by the Centre for commercial cultivation in India.
  • It has been genetically modified (GM) to produce an insecticide to combat the cotton bollworm, a common pest.
• Herbicide Tolerant Bt (HTBt) Cotton:
  
  
  • The HTBt cotton variant adds another layer of modification, making the plant resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, but has not been approved by regulators.
  • Fears include glyphosate having a carcinogenic effect, as well as the unchecked spread of herbicide resistance to nearby plants through pollination, creating a variety of superweeds.
• Need for Using HTBt Cotton:
  
  
  • Saves Cost: There is a shortage of the labour needed to do at least two rounds of weeding for Bt cotton.
    
    
    • With HTBt, simply one round of glyphosate spraying is needed with no weeding. It saves Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 8,000 per acre for farmers.
  • Support of Scientists: Scientists are also in favour of this crop, and even the World Health Organization (WHO) has said it does not cause cancer.
    
    
    • But the government has still withheld approval for HTBt.
• Issues Emanating from Illegal Sale of HTBt Cotton:
  
  
  • As it is not approved by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), illegal sale takes place in Indian markets.
  • Farmers are at risk with such illegal cotton seed sale as there is no accountability of the quality of seed, it pollutes the environment, the industry is losing legitimate seed sale and the government also loses revenue in terms of tax collection.
  • It will not only decimate small cotton seed companies but also threatens the entire legal cotton seed market in India.

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee

• The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
• It is responsible for the appraisal of activities involving large-scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.
• The committee is also responsible for the appraisal of proposals relating to the release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms and products into the environment including experimental field trials.
• GEAC is chaired by the Special Secretary/Additional Secretary of MoEF&CC and co-chaired by a representative from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

Way Forward

• Regulators only limit their checking/regulation to licensed dealers and seed companies while illegal activity of HT seed sales is carried mostly by unorganised and fly-by-night operators.
  
  
  • Thus, focus must be shifted to catching them and taking exemplary and strong punitive action.
• Collective action of both centre and state government is required. The Centre has made the policy to ban this variant. But it is the State governments that must also work in tandem with the central government.
• Environmental impact assessment should be carried out by independent environmentalists, as farmers do not and cannot assess the long-term impact of GM crops on ecology and health.

C295 aircraft manufactured in India

Prime Minister on 30 October 2022 laid the foundation stone of a C295 aircraft manufacturing plant in Vadodara, Gujarat, of the Tata-Airbus consortium that will manufacture the transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF). It is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. It is also the first time that the C295 aircraft will be manufactured outside of Europe. The manufacturing unit will cater to the export of the transport aircraft and for additional orders by the IAF.

What are the technical specifications of the C295 aircraft?

1. The C295MW is a transport aircraft with 5 to 10-tonne capacity and a maximum speed of 480 kmph.
2. It has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para-dropping of troops and cargo. Short take-off and landing from semi-prepared surfaces are some other features.
3. The technical specifications put out by Airbus say that the aircraft has a cabin dimension of 12.7 metres or 41 feet and eight inches.
4. The company claims this aircraft has the longest unobstructed cabin in its class which can accommodate 71 seats. The company also claims that C295 can carry more cargo than its competitors with direct off-loading through the rear ramp.
5. All 56 aircraft will be fitted with an indigenous electronic warfare suite to be developed by Bharat Electronics Ltd and Bharat Dynamics Limited.

What are the roles that the C295 can perform?

1. As a tactical transport aircraft, the C295 can carry troops and logistical supplies from main airfields to forward operating airfields of the country.
2. It can also operate on short unprepared airstrips as it is capable of Short Take-off and Landing (STOL). It can operate from short airstrips just 2,200 feet long and can fly low-level operations for tactical missions flying at a low speed of 110 knots, says Airbus.
3. The aircraft can additionally be used for casualty or medical evacuation, performing special missions, disaster response and maritime patrol duties.

CRISPR possible in temperature-sensitive organisms

Scientists from Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have shown that Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) gene-editing technology possible at temperatures as low as 4o°C, making it possible to edit genes in temperature sensitive organisms, plants, or crop varieties.

More about the technology

1. The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) gene-editing technology that bagged the Nobel Prize in 2020, Indian scientists have demonstrated for the first time that the associated Cas9 enzyme, which acts as molecular scissors to cut DNA at a location specified by a guide RNA, can bind to and cut the target DNA at very low temperatures.
2. It added that the unprecedented precision of targeting the DNA sequences and then efficiently cutting them is the basis for CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which has been recently demonstrated in editing genes in cells and organisms.
3. Pointing out that CRISPR-Cas9 technology has been successfully used for many purposes, including basic studies of gene function, agriculture, and medicine to increase our knowledge of disease processes and their potential future therapies, DST said, so far, most binding trials were typically performed at 37 °C.
4. As a further step to advance this platform into the forefront of biomedical and analytical biotechnology, RRI scientists have explored temperature-dependent binding and release of cleaved products by the Cas9 enzyme.
5. Their observations on high efficiency of Cas9 binding to target at very low temperatures also provide opportunities to edit genomes of the less explored organisms called cryophiles with an optimal growth temperature of 15°C, according to DST.

Flashback

1. CRISPR are short DNA sequences found in the genome of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria, which are reminders of previous bacteriophage (viruses) attacks that the bacteria successfully defended against.
2. Cas9 enzyme (part of bacteria’s defence mechanism) uses these flags to precisely target and cut any foreign DNA, thus protecting the bacteria from future attacks by similar bacteriophages.

Are there anti-superstition laws in India?

• he brutal murders of two women as part of “ritualistic human sacrifices” in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala have left the country in shock. Chilling details of the killings have sparked a debate about the prevalence of superstitious beliefs, black magic and sorcery in Kerala. In the absence of a comprehensive law to counter such acts, the call for a strict anti-superstition law has grown louder.

What is Superstition?

• Superstition is an irrational belief usually founded on ignorance or fear and characterized by obsessive reverence for omens, charms etc. It is a notion, act or ritual that derives from such belief.

What is Witchcraft?

• Black magic is also known as Witchcraft is usage of supernatural power for evil and selfish purposes and to perform malicious practices to destroy someone physically or mentally or financially.
• Black magic makes humans victims of baseless fears, reverses fortunes and confusions.

 

What is the status of such killings in India?

• As per the 2021 report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), six deaths were linked to human sacrifices, while witchcraft was the motive for 68 killings.
• In 2020, India saw 88 deaths due to witchcraft and 11 died as part of human sacrifices.
• The maximum number of witchcraft cases were reported from Chhattisgarh (20), followed by Madhya Pradesh (18) and Telangana (11). Kerala saw two cases of human sacrifice, the NCRB report states.

What are the laws over superstition in India?

• No central law: In India, there is no central law that exclusively deals with crimes related to witchcraft, superstition, or occult-inspired activities. In the absence of a nationwide legislation, a few States have enacted laws to counter witchcraft and protect women from deadly ‘witch-hunting’.

 

Anti-superstition Laws enacted by the states

• Bihar: Bihar was the first State to enact a law to prevent witchcraft, identification of a woman as a witch and “eliminate torture, humiliation and killing of women.” The Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act came into force in October 1999. Anyone who identifies a person as a “witch” and acts to aid this identification can face a jail term of up to three months, or a fine of ₹1,000, or both.
• Jharkhand: A similar law was passed in Jharkhand in 2001 the Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act.
• Chhattisgarh: Even though Chhattisgarh is one of the worst-affected States in terms of witchcraft-related crimes, the State enacted the Chhattisgarh Tonahi (witch) Pratadna Nivaran Act only in 2005. As per the law, a person convicted for identifying someone as a witch can be sentenced to up to three years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine
• Odisha: Following the directions of the Odisha High Court to frame a law to deal with rising cases of witch-hunting in the State, the Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Bill was passed by the Assembly in 2013. The bill provides penalties for a witch doctor, or a person claiming to be a black magician
• Maharashtra: In Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013 was passed after the murder of anti-superstition activist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar.
• Rajasthan: The state of Rajasthan enacted the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act in 2015 to “provide for effective measures to tackle the menace of witch-hunting and prevent the practice of witchcraft.
• Assam: The Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act, 2015, which received the President’s assent in 2018, prohibits witch hunting completely. The law states, no person shall identify, call, stigmatize, defame or accuse any other person as witch by words, or by signs or indications or by conducts or actions or any other manner or instigate, aid or abet such an act or commit witch hunting.
• Karnataka: The latest law was passed in Karnataka where the Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act, 2017 came into effect in January 2020. The law bans several practices related to black magic and superstition, like forcing a person to walk on fire at religious festivals and the practice of piercing rods from one side of the jaw to the other.

Conclusion

• States governments are doing their best to criminalize the rituals of human sacrifices by enacting stringent laws. There is need to have a concrete nationwide anti-superstition law and as a society every individual should be made a stakeholder in awareness against human sacrifices based on witchcraft and rituals.