My name is Pushpendra K Gupta, and I work as an Emeritus Professor at CCS University, Meerut, India. I am a geneticist and crop biotechnologist by training and mainly work in the area of marker-assisted selection (MAS) in crop improvement. But I have been interested in biotech (GM) crops for many years. I have also recently published an article on regulation of biotech crops (Current Science, India; November 10, 2012). For the last 4 years, I have been a member of "Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation" (RCGM), which is a regulatory body that examines the science behind the GM crops in the pipeline. I personally feel that the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes (ARMGs) for development of transgenics is an issue, which has been overblown, and does not pose any risk to human beings or to any other target or non-target organisms. There is no evidence that an ARMG associated with GM crops poses any risk whatsoever, and therefore, in my opinion the regulatory system of any country should ignore it and should not insist on the development of marker-free GM crops, or for using markers other than antibiotic resistance. Pushpendra Kumar Gupta Emeritus Professor & NASI Senior Scientist CCS University, Meerut, Residence: F-119, Shastri Nagar, Meerut 250004 India Telephone: 121-2762505 (R); 121-2768195 (Office); 9411619105 (M) Web: http://molbiolabccsumrt.webs.com/founder.htm e-mail: pkgupta36 (at) gmail.com [To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information on this FAO Biotechnology Forum, see http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-forum/] ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the Biotech-Room2-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=Biotech-Room2-L&A=1