Biosafety, Biopiracy and Patents: Quick Revision

A brief note on Biosafety, Biopiracy and Patents. Read it before a test. Try each question at the end before you open its answer.

Biosafety and ethics

• Regulation: the manipulation of living organisms needs regulation and ethical standards.
• Risk: GM organisms could have unpredictable results in an ecosystem.
• GEAC: the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the Indian Government. It decides on the validity of GM research and on the safety of introducing GM organisms for public services.
• Beyond NCERT (A-Level and IB, not in the NEET syllabus text): gene flow, harm to other organisms, resistance in pests, allergy, and the refuge that slows resistance.

Biopiracy and patents

• Biopiracy: use of bio-resources by companies without proper authorisation and without compensatory payment.
• Who is rich in what: industrialised nations are rich financially. Developing nations are rich in biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
• Basmati: a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office in 1997, for a variety derived from the varieties of Indian farmers.
• Neem and turmeric: attempts to patent uses, products and processes based on them.

The chapter in pairs

• Bt cotton: Bacillus thuringiensis, cryIAc and cryIIAb for the cotton bollworms, cryIAb for the corn borer.
• Insulin: chains A and B, 1983, E. coli. The C peptide is removed.
• Hepatitis B vaccine: yeast.
• ADA gene therapy: lymphocytes, retroviral vector, 1990, repeated infusions.
• Transgenic animals: over 95 per cent mice. Alpha-1-antitrypsin for emphysema. Rosie, 1997.

A worked example

A company sells 200 kg of a product from a traditional plant at 50 money units for each kilogram. 20 per cent of the income goes to the community. How much is that?

1. The income is $200 \times 50 = 10\,000$ money units.
2. The share is $0.20 \times 10\,000 = 2000$ money units.

Practice with new numbers

A program to try

The program looks up what each term means.

Mistakes to avoid

• Saying that the GEAC grants patents. It decides on GM research and safety.
• Placing the knowledge in the rich countries. Developing countries are rich in it.
• Mixing up the years. Insulin 1983, ADA 1990, Rosie and the basmati patent 1997.
• Mixing up the vectors. A retrovirus for the ADA therapy, Agrobacterium for plants.

Check yourself

1. What does the GEAC decide?

2. What is biopiracy?

3. Who gave the American company its rights over a basmati variety?

4. Which animal is the most common transgenic animal?

Sources

• OpenStax Biology 2e, chapter 17, Biotechnology and Genomics.
• NCERT (2023). Biology, Textbook for Class XII, chapter 10, Biotechnology and Its Applications.