Bt Cotton Found to be Infected with Monsanto’s Gene

By Jim.Robinson|December 19, 2012

In what India Today is calling “a case of serious scientific fraud,” a group of scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS) have been found guilty of infecting and subsequently hiding the fact that indigenously created Bt cotton contained a Monsanto gene.

The variety at hand, Bt Bikaneri Narma (BNBt), was developed in 2007 by the Central Institute of Cotton Research in Nagpur, the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology in Delhi, and UAS, Dharwad. Meant to provide a cheaper alternative to the successful but largely privatized Bt cotton hybrids in India, BNBt was released in 2009 to a wave of complaints not only by farmers due to the performance of the variety, but by Monsanto, which alleged that the variety contained the company’s proprietary gene.

Following the allegations, sales of the variety were suspended in 2009. The subsequent hearing revealed that the scientists at hand commercialized – supposedly intentionally – contaminated genetically modified (GM) seed as an alternative to the Mahyco-marketed GM cotton. ICAR, which tried the case, condemned the actions of the scientists as “unethical, unscientific, and irresponsible.”

The Coalition for GM Free India spoke through IndiaGMInfo, saying, “We congratulate the Committee for its thorough investigation which exposes one of the worst cases of scientific fraud within ICAR institutions. The indictment of the agricultural research establishment and the transgenic regulatory system is a shame to the country and once again points out to the wastage of taxpayers’ funds. We demand stringent action against all people involved in the affair.”