GS3 PYQ (Mains Answer Writing): Biotechnology | Science & Technology for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Q1: Why is there so much activity in the field of biotechnology in our country? How has this activity benefitted the field of biopharma? (UPSC GS3 Mains)

Ans:

Biotechnology refers to the application of technology to biological processes for industrial, agricultural and medical purposes. This field has seen a boom in terms of focus on immediate and long-term plans to promote it in India and active involvement of states and central government, private entities, and international players in this regard.
The surge in activity is guided by the realization that field of biotechnology holds many promises for India in the following areas: 

• Agriculture: High yielding varieties of crops, drought resistant plants, etc., have overall contributed to food security of vast population of India; fighting malnutrition by use of biofortified crops, e.g. Dhanashakti-first iron rich pearl millet in India; biofertilizers for ecologically safe enrichment of soil, e.g. algal biofertilizers for rice cultivation. 
• Industry: Novel techniques for inexpensive production of several products like corn-syrup, alcohol, eatables like cheese etc., by use of bio-enzymes.
• Medicine: Correction of gene defects via gene therapy to treat diseases like adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency; products like genetically engineered insulin hold special significance in India which has a large diabetic population; use of biopharmaceuticals for better medicines with lesser side effects.

The development in the field of biotechnology has resulted in the development of biopharma industries in the following ways: 

• Biopharmaceuticals drugs are structurally same as human compounds. This structural similarity gives biopharmaceuticals the potential to cure diseases rather than merely treat symptoms as done by traditional chemical compound medicines. Biotechnology allows researchers to use cell fusion, DNA-recombinant technologies, and other technologies to modify treatments specifically for individual diseases. 
• Bio-pharma allows clinicians to tailor treatment to the specific medical problems experienced by each patient. The greatest potential for bio-pharma is in gene therapy. Conditions associated with rapidly dividing cells, such as cancer, develop as the result of defective or mutated genes. In gene therapy, scientists replace defective genes with healthy ones to treat existing disease or to prevent disease from developing later. 
• Initiatives such i3 (Innovate in India); National Biopharma Mission and establishment of Bio-incubation centre’s will provide impetus for the development of this sector. The sector has potential to create new jobs enhance revenues through medical tourism and to develop affordable medicinal market in India as well as abroad.

Q2: What are the research and developmental achievements in applied biotechnology? How will these achievements help to uplift the poorer sections of society? (UPSC GS3 Mains)

Ans:-

Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary field that involves the use of live organisms or enzymes from organisms to produce products and processes useful to humans.
Achievement in Biotechnology:

• Biotechnology is used to produce genetically modified crops that are resistant to pests, improve crop yield, and have higher nutritional value. For example, Bt Cotton, GM Soyabean, etc. 
• Recombinant DNA techniques are used to produce a number of medicines like Insulin, etc. 
• Biotechnology is also employed in waste management and reducing pollution. For example, Phytoremediation uses plants for the removal, degradation, or containment of contaminants in soils, groundwater, etc. 
• Biotechnology is used for the diagnosis of a number of diseases. For instance, RT-PCR is based on genetic amplification to detect the presence of viruses like Dengue, SARS, etc. 
• Development of RNA (mRNA) based vaccine is used to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Biotechnology is also at forefront of Assisted Reproductive Technologies like IVF, Test tube babies, etc.

Role of Biotech in Uplifting Poor’s

• Biotechnology is helping to increase the income of marginal farmers by increasing crop yield and making them climate and pest resilient. 
• The development of medicines using Biotech is reducing healthcare expenditure for the poor. E.g; the cost of Insulin has come down. 
• Biotechnology is also helping in the conversion of waste into assets for the poor. E.g.; Bio-composting turns waste into valuable fertilizer. 
• The poor suffer the most from pollution. Biotechnology also helps in reducing pollution and thus alleviates their suffering. E.g.; Bioremediation techniques help clean landfills around slums. 
• Biotechnology also helps in increasing the shelf life of food products which in turn keeps their price in check for the poor.

Biotechnology is a revolutionary field that has the potential to alleviate poverty and hunger. However, there is a need to equitably distribute its benefits among all strata of society.

Q3: What are the research and developmental achievements in applied biotechnology? How will these achievements help to uplift the poorer sections of the society? (UPSC GS3 Mains)

Ans:-

Biotechnology is technology based on biology. Biotechnology generates cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and health of our planet. Biotechnology is helping to heal the world by harnessing nature's own toolbox and using our own genetic makeup.
Research and developmental achievements

• Stem Cell Research: Stem cells have the ability to keep on dividing infinitely and have the capacity to distinguish into different types of body cells during the early development of an organism. Researchers can program these stem cells to differentiate into specific types of cells.
• Human Genome Project: It was an international scientific research project coordinated by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Energy. Officially launched in 1990, it had the goal of determining the sequence of nucleotide base pairs that make up human DNA. It has supported researchers in identifying genes that cause diseases.
• Targeted Cancer Therapies: The established standard chemotherapies are toxic for healthy cells at present. Targeted cancer therapies are drugs that operate either by interfering with the function of specific molecules or by only targeting known cancerous cells in order to reduce damage to healthy cells.
• CRISPR: Clustered Regularly Interspersed Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a relatively new gene-editing system that has been hailed as a groundbreaking tool in medical research. HIV research is one of its many uses.

Role in uplifting poorer sections of society

• Biotechnology is assisting to expand the income of marginal farmers by increasing crop yield and making it climate and pest resilient.
• It has revolutionised the medical science leading to controlled death rate and world class treatment possible in India itself.
• By genome sequencing, biotechnology helps in accessing health of the people from the corners of India which ultimately proves conducive for the government in framing targeted policy initiatives.
• It also proves beneficial in expanding the shelf life of food products, which in turn, keeps their price in check for the poor.
• Pollution attacks poor the most. Biotechnology helps in reducing pollution and, thus, alleviates their suffering. For example, landfills are cleaned through bioremediation techniques.