Source: Harish Damodaran, The Hindu Business Line via Meridian Institute Food Security and AgBiotech News

Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco) in India has donated the "transformation event" embedded in its genetically modified (GM) brinjal to two state agricultural universities (SAUs) in India, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the Dharwad-based University of Agricultural Sciences.

Mahyco's GM brinjal, also known as eggplant, contains the Bt gene Cry1Ac from Monsanto.

Mahyco Managing Director Raju Barwale stated that: "The entire transformation, which means fitting the gene construct in the right place of the brinjal genome, was done at our Jalna research centre. The ownership of this unique event vests with us . . . We have transferred this event to the SAUs, on which no royalty will be charged to farmers. The question of royalty arises only if the universities undertake commercial sales."

Bhagirath Choudhary, a biotechnology expert, called the technology transfer "a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership" for India.

According to the article, the SAUs plan to use backcrossing to introduce Mahyco's Bt technology into popular non-hybrid brinjal varieties. Because the resulting GM brinjal varieties would not be hybrids, farmers would be able to reuse their seeds rather purchasing new ones each season.

The technology transfer was facilitated through the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSP II), managed by Cornell University in the U.S. and supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The original article can be viewed online at http://www.blonnet.com/2006/07/10/stories/2006071000840500.htm