The Supreme Court allowed Monsanto Technology to claim patent on its genetically-modified cotton seeds.The ruling overturned an order of a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court last year which invalidated the patent granted to Monsanto.

                                        LEARNING WITH TIMES

The characteristics of all living organisms are determined by their genetic makeup and its interaction with the environment. The genetic makeup of an organism is its genome, which in all plants and animals is made of DNA. The genome contains genes, regions of DNA that usually carry the instructions for making proteins. It is these proteins that give the plant its characteristics.

BIOTECHNOLOGY(BT): It means the development of biological forms and systems for obtaining maximum benefits to man and other life forms while maintaining an optimum ecological balance.

GENETIC ENGINEERING(GE): It is a tool of BT. it means deliberate human manipulation by which human genes are inserted into the Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA) of an unrelated organism. Therefore the construction of a DNA molecule which contains genes from 2 or more different sources is the essence of GE.  

                                  Genetic modification of plants involves adding a specific stretch of DNA into the plant’s genome, giving it new or different characteristics. This could include changing the way the plant grows, or making it resistant to a particular disease. The new DNA becomes part of the GM plant’s genome which the seeds produced by these plants will contain.