π Topic 06 of 6 Β· Chapter 04 Β· Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering
India’s Biotech Policy & Biodiversity Patents
Biopiracy, CBD, Biological Diversity Act 2002, complete revision β UPSC & PSC exams.
πΏ Biopiracy β 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 β India challenged and got it revoked (2000)
- Turmeric case: US patent on turmeric’s wound-healing properties β India challenged and got it revoked (1997)
- Basmati case: US company RiceTec patented “Basmati” rice β India challenged; most claims revoked
- Darjeeling Tea: India got Geographical Indication (GI) tag to protect it
πΏ 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) β under CBD β access and benefit sharing β prevents biopiracy
- India’s Biological Diversity Act 2002 implements CBD obligations
- National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) established in Chennai
πΏ India’s Biotech Policy
- National Biotechnology Development Strategy β promotes biotech research and industry
- DBT (Department of Biotechnology) β 1986 β funds biotech research
- BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) β supports biotech startups
- India’s biotech industry = ~$80 billion; growing rapidly
- India = “Pharmacy of the World” = largest generic medicine and vaccine producer
β Chapter 04 β Complete Revision Checklist
β
Bt cotton = India’s only approved GM crop (2002) = Bacillus thuringiensis gene
β GEAC = Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee = under MoEFCC
β CRISPR-Cas9 = gene editing = Nobel Prize 2020 = Doudna + Charpentier
β Dolly the sheep (1996) = first cloned mammal = Roslin Institute, Scotland
β iPSCs = Nobel Prize 2012 = Shinya Yamanaka
β Covaxin = Bharat Biotech + ICMR = inactivated virus = India’s indigenous COVID vaccine
β Covishield = Serum Institute of India = viral vector vaccine
β ZyCov-D = Zydus Cadila = world’s first DNA vaccine
β India = “Pharmacy of the World” = largest vaccine producer
β PCR = Kary Mullis (1983) = amplifies DNA = COVID-19 testing
β DNA fingerprinting = Alec Jeffreys (1984) = forensics
β Biopiracy = Neem, Turmeric, Basmati cases = India challenged successfully
β CBD = Convention on Biological Diversity = Rio de Janeiro (1992)
β Biological Diversity Act 2002 = India’s law to prevent biopiracy
β Human Genome Project = completed 2003 = ~3 billion base pairs
β GEAC = Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee = under MoEFCC
β CRISPR-Cas9 = gene editing = Nobel Prize 2020 = Doudna + Charpentier
β Dolly the sheep (1996) = first cloned mammal = Roslin Institute, Scotland
β iPSCs = Nobel Prize 2012 = Shinya Yamanaka
β Covaxin = Bharat Biotech + ICMR = inactivated virus = India’s indigenous COVID vaccine
β Covishield = Serum Institute of India = viral vector vaccine
β ZyCov-D = Zydus Cadila = world’s first DNA vaccine
β India = “Pharmacy of the World” = largest vaccine producer
β PCR = Kary Mullis (1983) = amplifies DNA = COVID-19 testing
β DNA fingerprinting = Alec Jeffreys (1984) = forensics
β Biopiracy = Neem, Turmeric, Basmati cases = India challenged successfully
β CBD = Convention on Biological Diversity = Rio de Janeiro (1992)
β Biological Diversity Act 2002 = India’s law to prevent biopiracy
β Human Genome Project = completed 2003 = ~3 billion base pairs