Restrictions or outright bans on the production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) exist in many countries worldwide. Yet Malaysia has approved eight genetically modified (GM) maize/corn products and six GM soybean products for food, feed and processing purposes.

Are genetically modified crops agriculture's green epiphany or are they diabolical seeds sowed by the devil? This has been the prickly question debated by proponents of GM crops and activists opposing them. [...] Given the crisis facing the planet, with the population set to breach the nine billion mark by 2050 and increasing strains placed on water, energy and food resources, it would be wrong to hope there could be a silver bullet, the British government's science adviser Sir John Beddington recently said in an Observer interview. [...] It would also be foolish not to make maximum use of the new technologies that we are developing in order to alleviate some of the worst dangers we will face in the decades ahead. [...] ”Just look at the problems that the world faces, water shortages and salination of existing water supplies, for an example. GM crops should be able to deal with that.”

Rapid population growth, climate change, escalating food prices, diminishing agricultural land and water resources pose a serious setback in increasing food output to feed the world’s fast growing population. Hence, scientists have to seek better solutions for farmers for increasing productivity on smaller tracts of land using less water, energy, fertilisers and pesticides. Local researchers, like their counterparts in the developed world, believe that Genetic Modification Technology could well be the holy grail for enhancing the country’s food output in the future. [...] In a nutshell, GM crops could well be the answer for feeding mankind in the future and Malaysia is well aware of the GM crops’ vast potential in achieving its food security target.

After seven years of research UKM’s scientists with the cooperation of MARDI’s research officers have successfully produced a variety of rice which not only can increase padi yield but also has properties with low gylcaemic index suitable for diabetics. [...] Prof Wickneswari described it as a superior red rice developed through conventional breeding involving controlled cross-breeding between cultivar MR219 and wild rice Oryza rufipogon. It involved the transfer of genes of the wild type to the common paddy produced by MARDI now extensively cultivated in the country.

Decisions to release genetically modified (GM) insects into the wild should be made more openly and based on better science, according to a review. The authors say that, so far, the environmental impact assessments for such releases have been “scientifically deficient”, and that without timely, publically available risk assessments the public may turn hostile to the GM mosquitoes before “it is possible to determine what value they possess”. The review, by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany, comes on the heels of a heated debate about the safety of releasing GM mosquitoes into the wild.

the announcement that the Malaysian government is keen to release GMMs in areas occupied by humans has raised more questions and concerns than the earlier trial release in uninhabited areas. It has been pointed out that while dengue is a serious problem, there are other effective, safer and less costly alternatives exist to reduce the number of dengue hotspots like the ministry’s Communication for Behavioural Impact programme. What would likely escalate this whole affair into a crisis would be a move to now release GMMs into the open without consulting local residents and keeping in the dark the very people who would be exposed to the creatures.

Genetically-modified mosquitoes may be released in populated areas as part of the Health Ministry’s study to counter the breeding of the dengue-causing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. [...] “We have received some objections from the people to the idea of releasing GM mosquitoes in populated areas but that is not the reason we are delaying the release of these mosquitoes. “More studies are needed before we can decide whether to release these mosquitoes in populated areas,” he told a press conference after attending the Chang Ming Thien Foundation cheque presentation ceremony here yesterday.

Transparency is essential. The Malaysian authorities went to some lengths to inform people that the trials were going ahead, holding open forums and briefing the media, which gave the experiments wide coverage. [...] By contrast, efforts by the Cayman Island authorities seem to have amounted to not much more than producing little-reported leaflets and a video, posted on YouTube and broadcast on television, which failed to say that the mosquitoes were genetically modified — the main concern of critics. [...] Oxitec acknowledges that there are lessons to learn from its experiences. Best placed to judge the results of this are the people of Brazil, the planned site of the company’s next experiment.

[Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar] said 3% to 4% of them would be female and could copy the role of the wild female Aedes to spread dengue. He said such biological suppression could not completely eliminate the species from the environment and the government would have to go on purchasing, releasing and killing the GM mosquitoes. ”We would need billions of these transgenic mosquitoes for an average sized city,” he said. ”Wouldn’t it be more logical and productive if that same sum were spent in improving the drains and sewerage systems in our urban areas?”

The covert manner in which GM mosquitoes were released in Bentong calls into question the level of transparency of the whole affair. WITH transparency being one of the key watchwords in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s administration, it was heartening to note the efforts made by the National Biosafety Board to elicit public feedback during the approval process for the Institute for Medical Research’s application to release genetically-modified male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Bentong, Pahang, and Alor Gajah, Malacca.