๐ Topic 06 of 6 ยท Chapter 04 ยท Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering
India’s Biotech Policy & Biodiversity Patents
Biopiracy, CBD, Biological Diversity Act 2002, complete revision โ UPSC & PSC exams.
๐ฟ Biopiracy โ India’s Cases
- Biopiracy = unauthorised use of biological resources or traditional knowledge for commercial gain without fair compensation
- Neem case: US patent on neem’s antifungal properties โ India challenged and got it revoked (2000)
- Turmeric case: US patent on turmeric’s wound-healing properties โ India challenged and got it revoked (1997)
- Basmati case: US company RiceTec patented “Basmati” rice โ India challenged; most claims revoked
- Darjeeling Tea: India got Geographical Indication (GI) tag to protect it
๐ฟ Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- Signed at Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro (1992)
- Three objectives: conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use, fair sharing of benefits
- Nagoya Protocol (2010) โ under CBD โ access and benefit sharing โ prevents biopiracy
- India’s Biological Diversity Act 2002 implements CBD obligations
- National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) established in Chennai
๐ฟ India’s Biotech Policy
- National Biotechnology Development Strategy โ promotes biotech research and industry
- DBT (Department of Biotechnology) โ 1986 โ funds biotech research
- BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) โ supports biotech startups
- India’s biotech industry = ~$80 billion; growing rapidly
- India = “Pharmacy of the World” = largest generic medicine and vaccine producer
โ Chapter 04 โ Complete Revision Checklist
โ
Bt cotton = India’s only approved GM crop (2002) = Bacillus thuringiensis gene
โ GEAC = Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee = under MoEFCC
โ CRISPR-Cas9 = gene editing = Nobel Prize 2020 = Doudna + Charpentier
โ Dolly the sheep (1996) = first cloned mammal = Roslin Institute, Scotland
โ iPSCs = Nobel Prize 2012 = Shinya Yamanaka
โ Covaxin = Bharat Biotech + ICMR = inactivated virus = India’s indigenous COVID vaccine
โ Covishield = Serum Institute of India = viral vector vaccine
โ ZyCov-D = Zydus Cadila = world’s first DNA vaccine
โ India = “Pharmacy of the World” = largest vaccine producer
โ PCR = Kary Mullis (1983) = amplifies DNA = COVID-19 testing
โ DNA fingerprinting = Alec Jeffreys (1984) = forensics
โ Biopiracy = Neem, Turmeric, Basmati cases = India challenged successfully
โ CBD = Convention on Biological Diversity = Rio de Janeiro (1992)
โ Biological Diversity Act 2002 = India’s law to prevent biopiracy
โ Human Genome Project = completed 2003 = ~3 billion base pairs
โ GEAC = Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee = under MoEFCC
โ CRISPR-Cas9 = gene editing = Nobel Prize 2020 = Doudna + Charpentier
โ Dolly the sheep (1996) = first cloned mammal = Roslin Institute, Scotland
โ iPSCs = Nobel Prize 2012 = Shinya Yamanaka
โ Covaxin = Bharat Biotech + ICMR = inactivated virus = India’s indigenous COVID vaccine
โ Covishield = Serum Institute of India = viral vector vaccine
โ ZyCov-D = Zydus Cadila = world’s first DNA vaccine
โ India = “Pharmacy of the World” = largest vaccine producer
โ PCR = Kary Mullis (1983) = amplifies DNA = COVID-19 testing
โ DNA fingerprinting = Alec Jeffreys (1984) = forensics
โ Biopiracy = Neem, Turmeric, Basmati cases = India challenged successfully
โ CBD = Convention on Biological Diversity = Rio de Janeiro (1992)
โ Biological Diversity Act 2002 = India’s law to prevent biopiracy
โ Human Genome Project = completed 2003 = ~3 billion base pairs