In August 2002, when the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (in its new avatar GEAC is Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) allowed the commercial cultivation of “Bollgard I” cotton in India, the first genetically engineered crop in the country, I asked, “Bt Cotton–Boon or Bane?” in the Business Line newspaper. In the article I had argued that Bt cotton was bound to fail in India. My reasoning was that the recombinant gene technology used is a technique where much is no