NEWS : The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has issued guidelines easing norms for research into genetically modified (GM) crops and circumventing challenges of using foreign genes to change crops profile.
WHAT IS IN IT
• Exempt researchers who use gene-editing technology to modify the genome of the plant from seeking approvals from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee
• The environment ministry in March 2022 exempted SDN 1 and SDN 2 genomes from Rules 7-11 of the Environment Protection Act
• Conventional breeding technique takes 8- 10 years for development of new crop varieties; genome-editing can do this faster
GM CROPS
• The GM plants involve transgenic technology or introducing a gene from a different species into a plant, for instance BT-cotton, where a gene from soil bacterium is used to protect a plant from pest attack.
• The worry around this method is that these genes may spread to neighboring plants, where such effects are not intended and so their applications have been controversial.
• Genome editing involves the use of technologies that allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome. Several approaches to genome editing have been developed.
• A well-known one is called CRISPR-Cas9, which is short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9.