Move over Bt Cotton, here comes Blue Cotton. If the efforts of Monsanto bear fruit, soon you will get your jeans made from Blue Cotton.
Monsanto has envisaged the transfer of a gene from a blue flower to the cotton plant to produce blue cotton.
Monsanto's current Blue Cotton programme is aimed at the jeans market ($10 billion in the US and £800 million in the UK) and involves the transfer of a gene from a blue flower to the cotton plant.
The efforts will not end with Blue Cotton. Further initiatives will be made to genetically manipulate the cotton plant to impart natural colour, modify fibre properties and impart pesticide
and herbicide resistance.
Coloured cotton is also being produced not only by conventional genetic selection but also by direct DNA engineering. Therefore, naturally coloured cotton is not an innovation; it is a gift of nature to preserve the eco system.
Biotechnology makes it possible to produce cotton with improved fibre features. Agricetus has produced genetically engineered cotton, which contains a bacterial gene that produces a polyester-like substance that is reported to have the texture of cotton but to be much warmer.
According to Monsanto, the Blue Cotton is aimed at the market in the US. Soon, the trend may catch up with India also.