Genome Editing – Regulatory Challenges – UPSC GS3

Genome editing (also called gene editing) is a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism’s DNA.

These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome.

Advanced research has allowed scientists to develop the highly effective Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR) -associated proteins based systems. This system allows for targeted intervention at the genome sequence.

This tool has opened up various possibilities in plant breeding. Using this tool, agricultural scientists can now edit the genome to insert specific traits in the gene sequence.

Depending on the nature of the edit that is carried out, the process is divided into three categories:

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) involves modification of the genetic material of the host by introduction of a foreign genetic material.

The basic difference between genome editing and genetic engineering is that while the former does not involve the introduction of foreign genetic material, the latter does.

In the case of agriculture, soil bacteria is the best mining source for such genes which are then inserted into the host genome using genetic engineering.

In the case of agriculture, both the techniques aim to generate variants which are better yielding and more resistant to biotic and abiotic stress.

Before the advent of genetic engineering, such variety improvement was done through selective breeding which involved carefully crossing plants with specific traits to produce the desired trait in the offspring.

Genetic engineering has not only made this work more accurate but has also allowed scientists to have greater control on trait development.

Across the world, GM crops have been a topic of debate, with many environmentalists opposing it on the grounds of bio safety and incomplete data. In India, the introduction of GM crops is a laborious process which involves multiple levels of checks.

Till date the only crop which has crossed the regulatory red tape is Bt cotton.

Scientists both in India and across the world have been quick to draw the line between GM crops and genome edited crops. The latter, they have pointed out, has no foreign genetic material in them which makes them indistinguishable from traditional hybrids.

Globally, European Union countries have bracketed genome edited crops with GM crops. Countries like Argentina, Israel, US, Canada, etc have liberal regulations for genome edited crops.

CRISPR-Cas9 is a unique technology that enables geneticists and medical researchers to edit parts of the genome by removing, adding or altering sections of the DNA sequence.