: India is taking its first steps to evolve a policy on synthetic
biology, an emerging science whereby new life forms can potentially be
made in labs and existing life forms — such as bacteria and other
microbes — can be tweaked to exude specific proteins or chemically
useful products. The environment ministry will be convening a group of
experts on biodiversity and biotechnology, which will assess the extent
of synthetic biology work in Indian labs, potential benefits and risks,
and the implications of the trans-boundary movement of such forms of
life.
Synthetic biology in microbial systems can potentially be
used to produce drugs, vaccines, fuel components and other chemicals. A
popular example is the production of artemisinin, a powerful
anti-malarial drug, in yeast at a commercial level. Microorganisms have
also been constructed to act as sensors that can detect a toxin in vitro
or in vivo.
There are assorted labs in India that work on
synthetic biology and Indian students have, since the turn of the
decade, been participating in international competitions to engineer new
life forms using standardised biological tools.
No policy yet
Last
December, officials from the environment ministry participated in the
United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) at Cancun, Mexico, where about 8,000 delegates from 180
countries convened to discuss matters related to biodiversity. India, so
far, has no policy on synthetic biology, and according to a
presentation made at the venue, it has promised to “put in place a
Synthetic Biology Team for articulating India’s view” in a forthcoming
edition of the conference. “We do not have any obligations to put in
place any policy immediately,” Amit Prasad, Additional Secretary,
Ministry of Environment and Forests, told The Hindu. “We will use this period to prepare dossiers, constitute experts panels and discuss all aspects of synthetic biology.”
A
major part of discussions at the CBD generally involve assessing risks
from the Living Modified Organisms, a broader term that also includes
genetically modified plants. While India has a biosafety system in place
to assess risks from GM crops, it has faced severe opposition from
several activist groups. “Countries in the west have advanced far in
terms of synthetic biology applications…we still aren’t clear on GMO. A
lot of work needs to be done,” an environment ministry official told The Hindu.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/India-to-frame-policy-on-synthetic-biology/article17244262.ece
: India is taking its first steps to evolve a policy on synthetic
biology, an emerging science through which new life forms can
potentially be made in labs and existing life forms, such as bacteria
and other microbes, tweaked to produce specific proteins or chemically
useful products.
The Environment Ministry will be convening a
group of experts on biodiversity and biotechnology, to assess synthetic
biology work pursued in Indian labs, potential benefits and risks, and
the implications of the trans-boundary movement of such life forms.
Synthetic
biology in microbial systems holds promise for production of drugs,
vaccines, fuel components and other chemicals. A popular example is the
production of artemisinin, a powerful anti-malarial drug, in yeast, at a
commercial level. Microorganisms have also been constructed to act as
sensors that can detect a toxin
in vitro
(outside a living organism) or
in vivo
(inside a living organism).
There are assorted labs in India that work on synthetic biology.
Last
December, officials from the Environment Ministry participated in the
United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) at Cancun, Mexico, where about 8,000 delegates from 180
countries discussed matters related to biodiversity.
India,
so far, has no policy on synthetic biology, and according to a
presentation made at the venue, it has promised to “put in place a
Synthetic Biology Team for articulating India’s view” at a forthcoming
meeting.
“We do not have any obligations to put in place any
policy immediately,” Amit Prasad, Additional Secretary, Ministry of
Environment and Forests, told
The Hindu
.
The technology could help produce drugs, vaccines, fuel components and other chemicals
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