Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), India’s apex regulator of genetically modified plants and food products, has approved the environmental release of Dhara Mustard Hybrid11 (DMH11), a genetically engineered variant of mustard. If approved for commercial cultivation it would be the first genetically modified food crop available to Indian farmers.
DMH11 is a hybrid variant of mustard developed by researchers at The Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, at the University of Delhi. Deepak Pental, who has led the efforts to develop hybrid mustard at the Centre for decades and was a former Vice Chancellor of the University, began with DMH1, a hybrid variant that was developed without transgenic technology. DMH1 was approved for commercial release in northwest India in 2005-2006 but scientists have said that this technology wasn’t bankable enough to consistently produce hybrid mustard. While India has several mustard varieties, it is a self-pollinating plant and therefore a challenge for plant breeders to cross different mustard varieties and induce desirable traits. Being able to turn off this self-pollinating trait to enable such crossings and then restoring the trait, to enable seed production, is how the mustard plant’s genes are to be manipulated. DMH11 is a result of a cross between two varieties: Varuna and Early Heera2. Such a cross wouldn’t have happened naturally and was done after introducing genes from two soil bacterium called barnase and barstar. Barnase in Varuna induces a temporary sterility because of which it can’t naturally self-pollinate. Barstar in Heera blocks the effect of barnase allowing seeds to be produced. The result is DMH11 (where 11 refers to the number of generations after which desirable traits manifest) that not only has better yield but is also fertile. DMH11 is a transgenic crop because it uses foreign genes from a different species.
There are two main reasons why transgenic mustards are a topic of debate. The use of genes that are foreign to the species is one and secondly, the preparation of mustard hybrids requires the use of another gene, called the bar gene, that makes it tolerant to a herbicide called glufosinateammonium. Activist groups allege that the GM mustard hasn’t been evaluated as a herbicide-tolerant crop posing potential risks. Finally, they allege, GM mustard plants may dissuade bees from pollinating the plant and this could have knockoff environmental catastrophes. Activist groups have also been supported by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh affiliate, who have consistently opposed GM crops.
Which of the following is/are correct regarding DMH1?
A. Deepak Pental, who has been in charge of developing hybrid mustard, started with the hybrid variant DMH1, which was created without the use of transgenic technology.
B. A cross between the varieties Varuna and Early Heera2 produced DMH1, a transgenic crop and hybrid mustard variety created by scientists at the University of Delhi's Center for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants.
C. Although DMH1 was given the go-ahead for commercial distribution in northwest India in 2005–2006, scientists have stated that this technology was not sufficiently scalable to reliably produce hybrid mustard.