China invents cheap device to detect GM products
Press Trust of India
Beijing, December 9
Amid consumer concerns over transgenic crops, Chinese scientists have invented a much cheaper device that can tell in 50 minutes if a farm produce has been genetically modified.
The 'Reagent Box,' independently developed by a bio-technology centre under the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, can screen out transgenic soyabean, rape, corn and other agricultural products.
The device is very close to similar products on the global market in terms of sensitivity and accuracy, but is only half their price, Xinhua news agency quoted sources with the State Administration for Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine, one of its first users, as saying.
Researchers with the Academy said the Reagent Box has been put into mass production, and 1,000 to 2,000 pieces are being produced each month.
Though the effects of transgenic technology is still debated by scientists around the world, an official with the State Environmental Protection Administration has warned that China has the world's fourth largest area of transgenic crops, after the United States, Canada and Argentina.
Currently, genetically modified crop growing areas in China exceed 16,06,150 acres and six genetically modified plants, including soybean and rice, have been approved.
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