Protesting Genetically Modified Eggplant

Eggplant is known as Brinjal in India. According to Association for India's Development (AID), "The government is planning to approve genetic modification of our fruits and vegetables starting with Brinjal. They have however requested for public opinion before they take a decision in February."

AID is asking everyone to join them in a fast to protest genetically modified eggplant on Jan. 30 Martyrs Day, 62 years since we lost Mahatma Gandhi. Learn more and find out how you can get involved.

"Genetically Modified (GM) crops are created by the unnatural insertion of foreign genes into host DNA of a plant, which leads to numerous unpredictable changes that are potentially dangerous for health. Bt Brinjal has been artificially created by insertion of a poisonous bacterial gene (Bacillus thuringiensis-Bt) to produce a toxin 24X7 inside the plant (and its fruit/vegetable) to target one pest—the Brinjal Fruit & Shoot Borer (it has to be noted that while many pests and diseases attack the crop, this technology is claimed as a solution to one such pest). If Bt were sprayed on the plant as a pesticide it can be washed before cooking, but now being inside the plants and vegetables no washing will remove it."