Biotechnology

* MANAV Project - By dept of Biotech + Persistent Systems (biotechnology company - PPP model) = unified database of molecular network of all the tissues in the human body and to derive a holistic picture of working of the human body. Similar project in 2016 - Human Cell Atlas project (by World leading scientist)

* Researchers have produced a new class of antibiotics, known as class II Polyketides, by using robotics to engineer Escherichia coli (E. coli), a common gut bacterium. These bacteria mostly found in Soil.

Antibiotics are chemical substances, which are produced by some microbes and can kill or retard the growth of other (disease-causing) microbes.

* India plans to launch it's 1st HUMAN GENOME MAPPING PROJECT in next 5 years.

It will involve scanning of 20k individuals of which 10k will b healthy n 10k deseased individuals for study.

It is implemented by Dept of biotechnology,min of S&T. National center for cell science (tissue engineering or tissue banking in pune) will collect samples of microbiome from human gut and data would be accessed by researcher from National biological data center.

https://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/940image2.webp

* Genetically modified adea agypti mosquito is released in natural occuring population in Brazil. However unclear how will that affect the population of ades agypti whether it will spread decease among the mosquito or Make mosquito control more difficult.

Ades agypti Is responsible for dengue (vaccine available but not approved in India yet) , chikungunya and Zika virus (vaccine not available for both).

- The employed genetic strategy RIDL (Release of Insects Carrying Dominant Lethal Genes) was supposed to only reduce the population of the naturally occurring A. aegypti mosquitoes and not affect or alter their genetics.

• But the study has found transgenic genes in 10-60% of naturally-occurring mosquitoes.

Also, the naturally occurring A. aegypti mosquitoes carrying some genes of the transgenic mosquitoes are able to reproduce in nature.