GM cottonAiming at the traits produced by such modification, the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) has developed a set of diagnostic kits. Such tools are intended for use in control procedures for authorised crops, in the administration of internationally-standard labelling and in the negotiation of legal conflicts. Tests are available for five main crops - cotton, cauliflower, tomato, mustard and a regional variety of eggplant known as brinjal.
The kits employ the (PCR) detection method to find genes conferring insect resistence (cry1Ac and cry2Ab genes), male sterility (barnase/ barstar genes) and tolerance of drought and salinity (osmotin gene).
The detector sets now are ready for commercial introduction. Union Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences, Mr Kapil Sibal, has underscored the administrative applications of such kits and described their potential use in customer information.