Monika Asthana

Genetic Engineering and Public Perception

Abstract Genetic engineering (GE) has certainly progressed rapidly in all directions since its birth with the first genetically engineered human insulin in 1982, the first genetically modified tomato in 1994, and Dolly the sheep in 1996. The use of GE to modify crops has been a controversial issue that has risen scientific, environmental, economic, social, and ethical/moral as well as religious concerns. Persistent poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in India and other developing countries pose new and unprecedented risks and opportunities for global agriculture in the future. Millions of people suffer and die of malnutrition and hunger. Others suffer serious diseases handed down through genes. Yet, others are denied children due to genetic concerns. Many of these problems can be curbed or even eliminated by simply spreading awareness which can change the public perception of genetically engineered organisms, particularly food plants. Public policymakers in the developed countries have developed policies on biotechnology and GE, especially human cloning, in hostile and conflicting conditions. Most debates however boil down to the product-versus-process debate—the simple fact whether all advancements in recombinant DNA technology be banned altogether or whether specific cases need to be dealt with on the basis of their individual merit. In addition, this is where public perception and public interest come in. With recent filtering down of technologies in our day-to-day lives, we are better informed and have our own views about new technological developments. So what is public interest ? Who should decide whether the public becomes a part of policymaking processes—the public or scientists and technologists? Many crucial decisions such as these, which would certainly be made in the near future, will affect the long-term future of our race as well as our genetic resources. Such decisions should be based on the best scientific information in order to allow effective choices for policy options.

16SrRNA sequencing of Dye decolorizing bacteria isolated from Soil

Dye׳s residues in textile effluents are hazardous for humans and animals health. Such pollutants can be degraded into non-harmful molecules using biological approaches that are considered cheaper and ecologically safer. Isolated 15 bacterial cultures from soil that could be used in biological system were showed decolorization capacity for Acid Green dye (33.9% to 94.0%) using thin layer chromatography and broth culture method. The most promising cultures (AMC3) to decolorize Acid green Dye (94.6%) was re-coded as NSDSUAM for submitting at IMTECH, Chandigarh for sequencing. The 16SrRNA sequencing suggested that it can be a variant of Pseudomonas geniculata (99.85% identical similarity) with difference of 2 base pairs to reference strain Pseudomonas geniculata ATCC 19374(T). Thus present study proposed dye decolorizing efficiency of the isolated strain of Pseudomonas geniculata that was previously unnoticed. The sequence is deposited in NCBI GenBank with the accession number KP238100.