Advocates of genetically modified crops, both in the private sector and the government research establishments, got an opportunity to press their case for lifting the moratorium on Bt brinjal and hailing GM crops as the sole hope for India, with the 98th Indian Science Congress here offering them a platform to air their views. Apart from a special lecture session by Shanthu Shanthanam, executive director of ABLEAG, New Delhi, which saw five speakers, most of them from the private sector, saying that India’s food security would be under serious threat without biotechnology, a plenary session echoed similar sentiments on Friday, the last day of the event.