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Debate on GMO tech issue `necessary'

Our Bureau

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, March 7

ANY decision on adoption of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs)-based technology in India should be preceded by a series of open discussions and seminars wherein the public gets an opportunity to carefully weigh in the arguments for and against the int roduction of the technology which is expected to hold far-reaching ramifications for the practice of agriculture and medicine in the country.

This was stated here by Prof. Harold E. Varmus, Nobel laureate and President of the US National Science Academy, during the course of an interaction with newspersons here. Prof. Varmus was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine along wi th his colleague, Dr. J. Michael Bishop, for their discoveries on the cellular origins of the oncogene of a chicken retrovirus that led to the isolation of many cellular genes responsible for growth of cancer and frequently found in mutated forms in hum an beings.

According to Prof. Varmus, the Indian authorities should ideally emulate the work of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US which has taken the entire gamut of the GMO issue to the people with a view to creating a public opinion on whether the technology should be tapped for a slew of agricultural and medicinal applications. Any decision in this regard should perforce be supported by adequate scientific evidence which is clearly documented. The lack of such an approach has largely been instrum ental for the violent protests reported from Europe, especially the UK, in recent times. On the other hand, the virulence of the campaign has largely eluded the US.

Prof. Varmus wondered why India has opted to fight shy of the biotechnology revolution which is sweeping the world now. While giving credit to Shanta Biotech of Hyderabad for its initiative in developing the indigenous vaccine for Hepatitis-B which is ch eap and affordable, Prof. Varmus said the company should make the most of the biotech revolution to invest further in its core competence and seek to reach out to the outside world. The company is strategically positioned to explore the massive markets s pread in the densely populous nations through Asia to Africa.

During his interactions with the scientific community in New Delhi and the personal audience with the Prime Minister, it had become clear that the Indian Government was concerned more with issues such as provision of clean water which had immediate relev ance to the life of the common man than ``wholly futuristic'' concepts such as GMOs. While there is no denying the importance of basic needs such as clean water, the relevance of biotechnology concepts should not be lost sight of given its role in evolvi ng truly revolutionary ideas in diagnostics and disease control.

Frequent incidence of tuberculosis, malaria and even AIDS calls for immediate deployment of modern tools on how pathogenic agents work and prosper in the Indian environment. Reacting to the criticism that gene-based medical practice is expensive and henc e accessible only to the rich, Prof. Varmus said the technology would become affordable with more and more companies coming into the field, adding to the competition.

One other commonly aired complaint related to the issue of invasion of privacy of genetic information in the wake of adoption of gene-based medical practice. But, in Prof. Varmus' opinion, this can be effectively dealt with by the formulation of enabling legal correctives in the system. Some of the federal States in the US have already passed legislations to this effect. In any case, no major controversy has been reported from anywhere in the US in this context, he added.