GM vegetables - Genetically mutated vegetables, Science fiction!
Genetically mutated vegetables are a reality in the Western world, but they are going to become a reality in India as well. GM veggies use genetic modification and hybrid chemicals to produce veggies that are superior to the normal ones.
Are these healthy to consume? Is it safe to eat a watermelon sized brinjal or aubergine? What happens when a tomato and an apple are mutated? Do you get a sweet, luscious tomato? Or do you get a sour, seedy apple? Can mutation be done between fruits and vegetables? Does GM happen only between veggies of the same family? All these are facts that we want some gyaan on. Will our farmers, who can barely create normal crops, now be able to grow GM veggies?
Before just blindly aping the West, isn’t it important that we question whether such so-called advancement is good for us or not? Will there be a market in India for GM products? Known to be an organic and nature loving community, I have serious doubts as to whether Indians will take to GM veggies.
Will the health endowing attributes cease from our vegetables once they are mutated? Is this messing with nature going one step too far? We have all been abroad and all of us have seen large vegetables and good quality agricultural produce. Let’s hope this kind of scientific advancement is really good for us.
GM is probably good only for the plant kingdom. If we take the argument further, and mutate the animal world, then god alone help us! Will the mutated genes of the veggies affect our own genes? GM is one experiment that can go horribly wrong, and with a 3rd world country like India, where even the most basic things go wrong, let’s hope this doesn’t become a Frankenstein that no one can control.
Neha Singh
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