S & T

CHAPTER 1: BIO-TECHNOLOGY

Biotechnology: It can be defined as any technology that is used on living systems or their components to generate products and or processes useful to humans. Living systems can be microorganisms, plants or animals. The term biotechnology was coined in 1919 by Karl Ereky.

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO): GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. This refers to bacteria or other microorganisms, or multicellular organisms such as plants and animals, whose genetic makeup has been altered.

Genetic engineering: It is the method/process by which gene manipulation can be carried out to create GMOs. Recombinant DNA technology: Recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology refers to creating a new combination of DNA segment from different sources, to express it in a host organism for generating products for human use. Tools in genetic engineering

Restriction enzymes:

These are nucleases, which are enzymes that cleave the phosphodiester bond between nucleotides in DNA. They cut both strands of a double stranded DNA only at specific recognition sites, called “restriction sites”. These sites are palindromic sequences, which reads the same when read in either forward or backward directions.

There are several hundreds of different restriction enzymes; each identifies different sequences in DNA.

Figure: Restriction enzymes and Ligases in action (EcoRI is a restriction enzyme)

Ligase:

Ligase is an enzyme that can join two DNA pieces produced by the action a restriction enzyme. Using ATP as an energy source, ligase catalyzes a reaction in which phosphodiester bond is reestablished, thereby joining two DNA fragments.

Vectors

Vectors are vehicles that are used in transferring the foreign genes into host organism.

Features of vectors

The vector must contain an origin of replication which allows the DNA to replicate itself and the DNA it carries independently of the host DNA.
The vector must contain “unique” restriction sites that are present only once in the entire circular vector DNA (Cloning site)
Most vectors code for some kind of selectable marker such as antibiotic resistance so that the presence of the vector can be confirmed by the ability of the host bacteria to grow in the presence of that Due to the risk of spreading antibiotic resistant genes, chromogenic substances such as Green fluorescent protein (GFP) are used these days.

Plasmids: These are extra pieces of genetic material found in bacteria and few other microorganisms. These circular and double stranded DNA molecules confer a specific advantage to the cell, like antibiotic resistance. In biotechnology, these plasmids are used as vectors to transfer genes into bacterium.

Genetic engineering method – Basic steps (E.g. insulin production in bacteria)

Using restriction enzymes, gene of interest (insulin) is separated from the human Alternatively, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to make copies of insulin gene from human DNA.
Plasmid into which this gene will be cloned is also treated with the same restriction
DNA ligase enzyme is then used to join the gene and plasmid DNA.
This recombinant plasmid is transferred into the bacterium ( coli). This can be done using transformation method (using heat shock) or using electric shock.
Bacterial cells carrying human insulin gene are selected based on the marker gene (eg. antibiotic resistant gene) to eliminate those bacterial cells that have not received the rDNA in previous step.
Thus produced, genetically modified coli carrying human insulin gene can be used in bioreactors (fermenters) to produce insulin in large scale.

In addition to human insulin, many therapeutic products such as growth hormone, clotting factors, interferon are produced in genetically modified bacteria, yeast and other microbes. Also, genetically modified bacteria (e.g. Pseudomonas putida) are employed in environmental cleanup, in a process referred to as “Bioremediation”. Transgenic animals

A “transgenic animal” is an animal that carries a foreign gene that has been introduced into its genome. “Microinjection” and viruses are routinely used in transferring recombinant DNA molecules into animals.

Advantages of transgenic animals Medical use:

Can produce therapeutic compounds for human use (monoclonal antibodies in mouse, antitrypsin in sheep for treating emphysema, human coagulation factor VIII in pigs for haemophilic patients, proteins in chicken egg, cow’s/goat’s milk) with proper post-translational modifications.

Industrial use:

Transgenic cows producing more milk, milk with less lactose, less cholesterol
Transgenic sheep producing more wool
Transgenic pigs/cattle/fish with more meat
Rosie, a transgenic cow was created by American Scientists in 1997 to produce human protein-enriched The milk contained ‘human alpha-lactalbumin’ and was nutritionally a more balanced product for human babies than the normal cow milk.
Scientists are attempting to produce disease-resistant animals, such as influenza-resistant pigs and mastitis resistant cow (bacterial infection)
Spider silk:

Scientists spliced spider genes into the cells of lactating goats (2001, Nexia Biotechnologies, Canada). By extracting silk polymer strands from the milk and weaving them into thread, the scientists can create a light, tough, flexible material that could be used in applications such as military uniforms, medical microsutures, and tennis racket strings

Research use:

To create animals lacking functional gene in order to understand the function of important genes (knockout mouse)
Disease models: Animals genetically manipulated to exhibit disease symptoms so that effective treatment can be studied (eg. Oncomouse (R) for studying various cancers)

Issues:

Low survival rate of transgenic animals
Transgenic animals appear to show issues in breeding
Escape of transgenic animals in to nature might disturb the natural population due to any advantages that the transgenic animal may have for survival
Ethical concerns
Changing animal just for human benefit and disregard for any pain/discomfort that animal goes through, is an ethical concern.

Transgenic plants

Transgenic plants are those plants that have been genetically altered or carry a foreign gene(s) to provide new properties. They are GMOs. These new properties may benefit plant growth or provide resistance to diseases or allow the plant to synthesize products beneficial to humans.

Advantages of Transgenic Plants:

Improvement in plant yield
Improvement in nutritional quality (as well as market quality) eg. Golden rice (enriched for vitamin A) and Flavr savr tomatoes (delaying softening).
They provide pest (insect) and disease Resistance (eg. Bt crops)
They can also provide herbicide resistance (herbicides are used to kill weeds). Resistance to commonly used herbicides such as glyphosate, gluphosinate in cotton, maize, tomato etc.
Resistance to abiotic (environmental) stresses such as drought, soil salinity, soil acidity, cold, frost
Transgenic plants are also used in making industrial products (Biodiesel, biodegradable plastics, therapeutics (Edible vaccines)

Issues with transgenic plants/crops

Effects of genetically modified material could have on human health (allergies).
Spread of Resistance to antibiotics leading to super bugs that cannot be killed with antibiotic treatments
A concern about transgenic crops causing damage to the natural environment (to the non-targeted species). One example includes pollen from transgenic corn, which has been suggested to kill the Monarch butterfly larvae.
Hybridization of crops with nearby This could cause these weeds to attain resistance to herbicides (bacteria, virus, insects as well) that we have been trying to avoid for many years.
The idea of a population being uncomfortable with ingesting DNA that originated from another source, such as a virus or

Transgenic crops Golden rice

Dietary micronutrient deficiencies, such as the lack of vitamin A, iodine, iron or zinc, are a major source of morbidity (increased susceptibility to disease) and mortality worldwide. These deficiencies affect particularly children, impairing their immune system and normal development, causing disease and ultimately death. Nutrient-dense staple crops are a solution especially for those who cannot afford a balanced diet.

There are no natural provitamin A-containing rice varieties. In rice-based societies, the absence of β-carotene in rice grains manifests itself in a marked incidence of blindness and susceptibility to disease, especially in children. Rice plants produce β-carotene (provitamin A) in green tissues but not in the endosperm (the edible part of the seed).

Golden Rice is a biofortified crop. In Golden Rice two genes (a plant phytoene synthase (psy) and a bacterial phytoene desaturase (crt I)) have been inserted into the rice genome by genetic engineering, to restart the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway leading to the production and accumulation of β-carotene in the grains.

Since, a prototype of Golden Rice was developed in the year 2000 by Ingo Potrykus (Swiss federal institute of technology) and Peter Bayer (University of Freiberg, Germany), new lines with higher β-carotene content have been generated. The intensity of the golden color is a visual indicator of the concentration of β-carotene in the endosperm.

A new variety of golden rice was developed by ‘International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)’ with ‘Philippine Rice Research Institute’. This new variety has already received food safety approvals from regulators in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States of America. In July 2021, the Philippines became the first country in the world to approve Golden Rice for commercial cultivation. Golden Rice is also currently undergoing final regulatory review in Bangladesh.

Advantages:

Many countries, like the Philippines, India, and Vietnam, rely on rice as their main source of nutrition. This leads to a Vitamin A deficiency which when severe enough can cause blindness and reduced immunity against diseases. Golden rice has been enriched with beta-carotene, giving it its golden color and addressing this deficiency.
Reduces the economic burden on a country that is struggling with such ill health in population.
Higher crop yield and reduced pesticide use has been noticed when tested this
Hold a great potential to contribute to poverty reduction, better nutrition, and sustainable

Issues:

Golden rice focuses on one nutrient (Vitamin A), so promoting this variety might cause malnutrition
It is unclear if there will be enough vitamin A left upon storage and cooking the grain to match the daily requirement
Possibility of human health risks (such as allergic responses to new genes)
Economic concerns (companies may sell the grain and seed for huge profits)

Bt-Cotton

The cotton bollworm is a very dangerous pest and is responsible for huge losses of cotton worldwide. In India, where cotton is a major commercial crop, these losses account for ~ 50-60% of the expected yield. Larvae of cotton bollworm damages cotton bolls and squares. Traditionally, the cotton bollworm has been combated by the use of pesticides. However, in developing nations like India, there is a huge cost of using large amounts of pesticides, which typically cannot be afforded by marginal farmers. Bt cotton was developed with the intention of reducing the amount of pesticides needed for cotton monoculture, thereby reducing the cost of growing cotton and reducing the environmental impact of heavy pesticide use. Researchers at Monsanto, USA developed Bt cotton and it has become widespread since the first commercial release in China and the United States in 1996, followed by its introduction in India in 2002/2003 through collaboration between Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds company) and Monsanto (USA).

Bt cotton is one of the first genetically modified (GM) crop technologies with wide distribution in developing countries, India being one of the largest producers of Bt cotton. It is commonly referred to as Bt cotton (commercially name is Bollgard), because this variety contains a foreign gene obtained from Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt). B. thuringiensis is a soil bacterium. Bt gene, introduced genetically into the cotton seeds, produces an insecticidal protein (Cry1Ac) which protects the plants from bollworm. The worm feeding on the leaves of a Bt cotton plant ingests protoxin, which upon solubilization in the insect gut (at high pH) gets activated. Thus, activated toxin attacks the insect gut resulting in cell disruption and eventually killing the pest. The major advantages of Bt cotton:

The Bt cotton has inbuilt genetic resistance to bollworms and is very effective in controlling the yield losses caused by bollworms to a considerable extent
Use of Bt cotton reduces the use of pesticides, reducing the cost of cultivation.
It results in improvement of yield levels and improves margin of profit to the
It provides opportunities to grow cotton in areas of severe bollworm
Bt toxin protein only activates in highly basic environment in insect gut and not in acidic gut in higher animals and humans, so it is safe for animals and
It promotes eco-friendly cultivation of cotton and allows multiplication of beneficial insects e. parasites and predators of bollworms.

Drawbacks and issues surrounding Bt cotton

The seeds are more expensive than local non-genetically modified varieties, hence not affordable by small and marginal farmers
Effectiveness appears to decrease after 120 days
Contamination of transgenic seeds with other Bt hybrids which were not studied for their biosafety, raised the issues of environmental toxicity and the difficulty in testing the efficacy of actual Bt cotton
There are also issues around the actual efficacy of the Bollgard seeds with reports of bollworm infestations even in Bt cotton crops.
Non-profit organizations like Greenpeace have been voicing against Monsanto’s monopoly in the field of genetically modified crops blaming Monsanto for its commercial interests while disregarding the issues with GM crops.

Bt Brinjal

Brinjal is a popular vegetable in India and is cultivated in several parts of the country. Major losses for this crop have been due to insect pests and diseases, the most serious and destructive of them being the fruit and shoot borer (FSB). FSB larvae bore into tender shoots and fruits, accounting for up to 60 percent cost of total investment. Insecticides/pesticides have been used to control them. Besides the high cost of cultivation and adverse effects on the environment, more importantly, high pesticide residues in brinjal posing a serious risk to consumer’s health and safety. To provide a solution to this problem, University of Agriculture Sciences- Dharwad (Karnataka) in collaboration with Mahyco-Monsanto introduced a Bt Brinjal variety carrying the gene Cry1Ac as in Bt cotton. It provides resistance to FSB and other similar pests.

In 2009, Bt brinjal got approval from GEAC (now known as The Genetic Engineering appraisal committee) and Indian government, becoming the first GM food crop to be approved in India. Due to concerns over potential health hazards, and other issues on the testing methods and duration, despite the claims of the company that all biosafety tests were carried out, a ten year moratorium was imposed on field trials of Bt Brinjal in 2010. In 2020, the Indian government approved safety trials for two indigenous Bt brinjal varieties in some selected states. These safety trails require State governments approval and yet to materialize.

GM Mustard

There is no natural hybridization system in mustard, unlike in cotton, maize or tomato. Mustard flowers contain both the female (pistil) and male (stamen) reproductive organs, making the plant naturally self-pollinating. This

makes the mustard resistant to hybridization. To address this problem, Dr. Deepak Pental, and his colleagues from the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants at the University of Delhi in collaboration with Bayer corporation came up with a genetically Modified (GM) mustard hybrid called DMH-11. it is claimed to give 25-30% more yield than the best varieties currently grown in the country. Like other GM crops, there are issues surrounding this as well. Deficiencies in evaluation process, claims on higher yields based on comparisons with 30-year-old cultivars, and not a recent high-yielding hybrid, herbicide resistance that was not previously disclosed are some of the issues that raised the debate on this crop.

GM Rubber

In June 2021, Rubber Board of India has started field trial of world’s first genetically modified (GM) rubber in Assam. This is the second genetically modified crop to start field trials in India after Bt Cotton. The Rubber Board launched the field trial of the GM Rubber in Assam a decade after Kerala Government denied permission for the same citing its possible adverse impact on environment and apprehension on GM crops.

It is developed in the biotechnology laboratory at Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) in Kottayam, Kerala. Scientists introduced MnSOD gene (Manganese containing Superoxide dismutase) that breakdown oxygen free radical produced in response to stress. It shows resistance to drought, temperature as well as light intensity. It can cut short the maturity period of rubber, indicating chances for early yielding.

There are no plant species in India that can breed with natural rubber, hence no risk of genes flowing from GM rubber into any native species.

Cloning

In general, clones mean identical copies of each other. In biotechnology, cloning refers to several different processes used to produce genetically identical copies of a DNA or animals.

There are three different types of cloning:

Gene cloning: Also known as ‘DNA cloning’ or ‘molecular cloning’, refers to producing copies of genes or segments of DNA.
Reproductive cloning: Is a process of producing an identical copy of a whole animal
Therapeutic cloning: It refers to the process similar to reproductive cloning, but performed with an objective to produce human embryos for therapeutic

Cloning Dolly, the sheep

In 1996, Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, was created by Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell at Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Method: Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), described in the following figure.

This method resulted in Dolly, an identical clone of the sheep that donated the nucleus. Dolly produced normal offspring in natural births, proving that animals cloned by this method are fertile. But Dolly suffered from arthritis and a lung infection and died in 2003 at the age of 6 (about half the age for such a sheep). Several such clones are created since the production of Dolly. They include clones of a cat (cc-copycat), goats (Mira triplets), dog (snuppy), buffaloes, horses, rats, mouse etc.

Applications

Cloning can generate clones of those animals that show high yields of useful products (milk, wool, meat )
Clones can also be used to produce therapeutic proteins for human use, as this way therapeutic genes will be transferred to the animals from generation to generation without the need for introducing them every
This method might be employed in mitochondrial replacement therapy to prevent mitochondrial mediated genetic diseases
Through cloning, genetically identical animals for organ/tissue donation can be created
Theoretically, cloning may be used to clone endangered species
Cloned mammals can be used to study disease (disease models)

Drawbacks/issues

Reproductive cloning is very inefficient method (1 clone born out of 277 cloned embryos in case of Dolly and it is the case with several other cloned animals)
Abnormalities during pregnancy and post-pregnancy are observed such as pregnancy losses and defects in organ formation in cloned animals
Methods are laborious and expensive
Major challenge for cloning is addressing ethical questions such as how far can one interfere in production of life

In vitro Fertilization technology (IVF)

IVF is a procedure used to treat infertility and assist with the conception of a child, hence also called “Assisted Reproductive Technology”. During IVF, egg is fertilized by sperm in a test tube in the lab. Hence, the baby produced using this method is called “Test tube baby”. Eggs and sperms are either obtained from biological parents or from donors. Then the fertilized egg (embryo) is implanted in mother’s uterus. When there are known health issues in carrying the baby, a surrogate mother, a woman who has an embryo implanted in her uterus – might be used.

Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) and three parent child

Mitochondrial replacement therapy offers hope for women genetically predisposed to pass on mutant mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses inside nearly every cell of the body. In contrast to the human nuclear genome, mitochondrial DNA only code for about 37 genes. One further distinguishing feature of the mtDNA is that it is inherited only from the mother because no mitochondria are passed along by a fertilizing sperm.

Mutations in mtDNA are remarkably frequent and lead to a wide range of degenerative, mainly neuromuscular diseases (Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, Leigh syndrome). Mitochondrial replacement therapy, which has been approved for clinical trials in the United Kingdom, involves swapping faulty mitochondria for those of a healthy donor.

In this in vitro fertilization technique, the mitochondria in an ovum of a woman who carries mtDNA-related disease mutations are replaced with healthier ones from a second female donor. The resulting egg is then fertilized with sperm from the intended father to produce an embryo for gestation. A child born of MRT has three genetic parents: the mother who provided the egg and its nuclear DNA, the mother who provided the mtDNA, and the father who provided the sperm. Dr. John Zhang from “New Hope Fertility Center” in New

York City was the creator of first three-parent-child (a baby boy), which was performed in Mexico (April 2016) due to restrictions in USA.

This unusual situation opens up potential ethical issues.

Northern White Rhino

At the end of March 2018, last surviving male of Northern White Rhino (named “Sudan”) living in Kenya was put to rest due to illness. There are only two females of this species left currently.

In order to save this subspecies from extinction, scientists are considering following options

To perform IVF with the available frozen sperm samples and eggs (can be collected from the two surviving females of this species
Use frozen tissue samples of these animals to collect cells that can be induced into stem cells and then to sperms and egg cells in order to perform IVF
Cross breeding with other closest species, like “Southern white rhino”

Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation ACT 2021

In December 2021, ART regulation was enacted to protect and safeguard the reproductive rights of women in India. The bill makes provisions for safe and ethical practice of assisted reproductive technology services in the country.

Background

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years. India has one of the highest growths in the ART centers and the number of ART cycles performed every year. Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), including In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), has given hope to a multitude of persons suffering from infertility, but also introduced a plethora of legal, ethical and social issues. India has become one of the major centres of this global fertility industry, with reproductive medical tourism becoming a significant activity. Clinics in India offer nearly all the ART services—gamete donation, intrauterine insemination (IUI), IVF, Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and gestational surrogacy. However, in spite of so much activity in India, there is yet no standardisation of protocols and reporting is still very inadequate.

The cryopreservation of sperm, oocytes and embryo by the ART Banks needs to be regulated and the bill intends to make Pre-Genetic Implantation Testing mandatory for the benefit of the child born through assisted reproductive technology.

Key Features of the Bill

The Bill will ensure confidentiality of intending couples and protect the rights of the child born through
Pre-Genetic Implantation Testing Mandatory: The test allows doctors to test embryos for any possible abnormal chromosomes before they are transferred to the uterus. This is to avoid any genetic diseases in the population born through these
Once the Bill is enacted by the Parliament, the National Board will be It shall lay down code of conduct to be observed by persons working at clinics, to set the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by clinics and banks (those store eggs/sperms).
The States and Union Territories shall constitute the State Boards and State Authorities within three months of the notification by the Central Government.
The State Board shall have the responsibility to follow the policies and plans laid by the National Board for clinics and Banks in the
The Bill also provides for National Registry and Registration Authority to maintain a Central database and assist the National Board in its functioning.
Egg donor needs to be supported by insurance
Multiple embryo implantation needs to be
Children born through ART should be provided all the rights equivalent to biological
Punishment: The Bill also proposes for a stringent punishment for those practising sex selection, sale of human embryos or gametes, running agencies/rackets/organisations for such unlawful
The bill has a provision that those involved in trafficking and sale of embryos will be fined Rs 10 lakh at first instance and in second instance the person could be imprisoned for up to 12 years.

Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021

Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby an intending couple commissions a surrogate mother to carry their child. In 2002, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) laid out guidelines for surrogacy, which made the practice legal, but did not give it legislative backing. This led to a booming surrogacy industry.

In light of such commercial surrogacy business, the Surrogacy Regulation was enacted in December 2021 “to completely abolish commercial surrogacy”.

Highlights

The intending couple must be Indian citizens and married for at least five years with at least one of them being (Age restrictions: Woman: 23 – 50, Men: 26-55)
The surrogate mother has to be a genetically related to the couple, married and has had a child of her own (Age restriction: 25-35 years). Allowed only once in lifetime to act as a
No payment other than reasonable medical expenses can be made to the surrogate The surrogate child will be deemed to be the biological child of the intending couple.
Central and state governments will appoint appropriate authorities to grant eligibility certificates to the intending couple and the surrogate These authorities will also regulate surrogacy clinics.
The central and the state governments shall constitute the National Surrogacy Board (NSB) and the State Surrogacy Boards (SSB), Functions of the NSB include, (i) advising the central government on policy matters relating to surrogacy; (ii) laying down the code of conduct of surrogacy clinics; and (iii) supervising the functioning of SSBs.
Undertaking surrogacy for a fee, advertising it or exploiting the surrogate mother will be punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.

Key Issues and Analysis of surrogacy regulation

The Bill permits surrogacy only for couples who cannot conceive a This procedure is not allowed in case of any other medical conditions which could prevent a woman from giving birth to a child.
The need for surrogate mother to be ‘genetically related’ to the intending couple, potentially restricts the availability of surrogate
The law bans singles and LGBTQ couples from having surrogate children. Denying the right to have reproductive choices is seen as a violation of Article 21 as well as Article 14 of the Indian
The Bill specifies eligibility conditions that need to be fulfilled by the intending couple in order to commission surrogacy. Further, it allows additional conditions to be prescribed by regulations. This may be excessive delegation of legislative
For an abortion, in addition to complying with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, the approval of the appropriate authority and the consent of the surrogate mother is The intending couple has no say in the consent to abort.

Stem cells

Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types.

Important characteristics of stem cells:

Self-renewal: Stem cells are self-sustaining by replicating themselves for a much longer period of
They are unspecialized: Specialized cells have specific capabilities that allow them to perform certain For example, a red blood cell contains hemoglobin that allows it to carry oxygen. Stem cells have unspecialized capability and do not have tissue- specific structures to perform specialized functions.
They can give rise to specialized cells: Stem cells go through a process called differentiation and create special types of cells (muscle, nerve, skin, ).

Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a blastocyst, the inner cells give rise to the entire body of the organism, including many specialized cell types and organs such as the heart, lungs, skin and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease.

Types of stem cells (Based on differential potential) Totipotent stem cells:

Stem cells that can form all the cell types in a body, also placental cells. Embryonic cells within the first couple of cell divisions after fertilization are the only cells that are totipotent.

Pluripotent stem cells:

Stem cells that can give rise to any of the cell types that make up the body. The difference between totipotent and pluripotent cells is only that totipotent cells can give rise to entire organism including placenta and all organ and tissues, pluripotent cannot give rise to entire organism. Pluripotent stem cells eventually give rise to “multipotent stem cells”. Umbilical cord stem cells are considered multipotent.

Oligopotent stem cells:

These are progenitor cells that have ability to give rise to few types of cells such as hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to all blood cells.

Unipotent stem cells

Unipotent stem cells are restricted and they are capable to give rise to only a single cell type. Precursor cells found in various tissues are examples of these stem cells.

Types of stem cells (Based on location/source)

Embryonic stem cells – Embryonic stem cells include those found within the embryo. Depending upon when they are harvested, embryonic stem cells can give rise to just about any cell in the human body (also called totipotent stem cells).

Adult stem cells – Adult stem cells can be found in infants, children and adults. They reside in already developed tissues such as those of the heart, brain and kidney. They usually give rise to cells within their resident organs. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)- These stem cells are adult, differentiated cells that have been experimentally “reprogrammed” into a stem cell- like state.

Applications:

The ideal application of stem cells is to use them to replace organs damaged from This has been accomplished in a report that has commonly become known as the story of “Claudia’s trachea. Where trachea damaged in a patient due to severe tuberculosis infection has been replaced with trachea from a diseased donor by replacing the cells with recipient’s cells grown stem cells.
Adult stem cells, such as blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow are currently the only type of stem cell commonly used to treat human diseases.
Adult stem cells have been used successfully in skin replacement for burn As discussed in gene therapy, combination of gene therapy and stem cell therapy approach has been used to treat a skin blistering disease called Epidermolysis bullosa.
The idea of a combination gene/stem cell therapy approach may be extended for use in induced pluripotent stem cells for other diseases such as “Severe combined immunodeficiency” (SCID).
Stem cell therapy have been considered for treating “blindness” in young patients and “spinal cord injuries”.
A few studies have also been carried out in human “heart regeneration” in patients undergoing open- heart Several of these have demonstrated that stem cells that are injected into the circulation or directly into the injured heart tissue appear to improve cardiac function and/or induce the formation of new capillaries.
Teeth and hair can also be grown from stem
Stem cells, through tissue culture or organoids, can also be used in testing drugs for toxicity before clinical

Issues:

In case with iPSCs, obtaining full functionality is still a challenge.

Embryonic stem cells must be obtained when an embryo is in early development; that is, when the fertilized egg has divided to form about 1000 cells. These cells are then separated and maintained in a cell culture dish, thereby halting embryonic development toward creating an individual. Therefore, embryonic stem cell research is the subject of ethical debates, as there is disagreement over when dividing cells should be treated as a person. Utilization of adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells poses less of an ethical dilemma.

Gene therapy

Gene therapy is designed to introduce genetic material into cells to compensate for abnormal genes or to make a beneficial protein. If a mutated gene causes a necessary protein to be faulty or missing, gene therapy may be able to introduce a normal copy of the gene to restore the function of the protein.

A gene that is inserted directly into a cell usually does not function. Instead, a carrier called a vector is genetically engineered to deliver the gene. Certain viruses are often used as vectors because they can deliver the new gene by infecting the cell. The viruses are modified so they can’t cause disease when used in people. Some types of virus, such as retroviruses, integrate their genetic material (including the new gene) into a chromosome in the human cell. Other viruses, such as adenoviruses, introduce their DNA into the nucleus of the cell, but the DNA is not integrated into a chromosome. Alternatively, non-viral vectors such liposomes have been used in delivering functional gene.

The vector can be injected or given intravenously (by IV) directly into a specific tissue in the body, where it is taken up by individual cells (In vivo gene therapy). Alternately, a sample of the patient’s cells can be removed and exposed to the vector in a laboratory setting (Ex vivo gene therapy). The cells containing the vector are then returned to the patient. If the treatment is successful, the new gene delivered by the vector will make a functioning protein.

In 1990 FDA (Food & Drug Administration authority, USA) for the first time approved a gene therapy experiment on a type of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency syndrome in the United States after the treatment of Ashanti DeSilva. Approximately 2500 clinical trials on patients have been performed with various techniques and genes for numerous diseases. Many diseases such as ADA-SCID, X-linked SCID, Leber’s congenital amaurosis (a retinal disease), Parkinson’s disease, multiple myeloma, chronic and acute lymphocytic leukemia have reported of successful clinical trials.

Advantages of gene therapy

Gene therapy can cure genetic diseases that otherwise have no alternate
Gene therapy can be used for cancer treatment to kill the cancerous cells.
Gene expression can also be
In case of somatic therapy, where genes are introduced into somatic cells, therapeutic protein is continuously produced in the body which reduces the cost of treatment in long
Germ line gene therapy can even solve the given genetic problem

Issues with gene therapy

Immune response to viral vectors/foreign genes
Newly introduced genes can disrupt important genes in target cells leading to cancers
Some patients who underwent gene therapy developed multiple organ failure
Viral vectors can also cause cancers like leukemia

Status of gene therapy

Gene therapy has not yet been realized to its full potential in clinical applications. The technology is still in developmental stage and yet to be developed. Several thousand patients were treated by gene therapy so far, mostly without long-term success. The future successes of gene therapy also depend on the advancements in other relevant fields, such as medical devices, cell therapies, protein therapies and nanotechnology.

In august 2017, The United States approved the first gene therapy for cancer in children and young (up to 25 years), a treatment that uses a patient’s own immune cells (T-lymphocytes) to fight childhood a form of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The treatment is made by “Novartis” (Swiss company) and is called “Kymriah” (tisagenlecleucel). The patient’s T-cells are genetically modified to include a new gene that contains a specific protein (a chimeric antigen receptor or CAR) that directs the T-cells to target and kill leukemia cells that have a specific antigen (CD19) on the surface. Once the cells are modified, they are infused back into the patient to kill the cancer cells.

FDA also approved second gene therapy for blood cancer, called Yescarta by Kite Pharma. It also uses same technology as Kymriah, CAR-T cell therapy.

Recognizing huge burden of genetic diseases in India, in December 2019, ICMR, the apex health research body in India, has released national guidelines to be followed for developing and performing gene therapies in India. The aim of these guidelines is to ensure that clinical trials for gene therapies are performed in an ethical, scientific and safe manner. These guidelines will serve as an important resource and roadmap for those in the field trying to develop gene and cell therapies.

They apply to all stakeholders in the field of gene therapy including researchers, clinicians, regulatory committees, industry, patient support groups and any others involved in their development or their application in humans.

CRISPR-Cas9

In the bacterial genome, there are places where clusters of certain palindromic repeat sequences are present, known as “CRISPR” (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). When, there’s a phage attack for the first time, the bacteria destroy the phage DNA and store a fragment of the phage DNA in their own genome in between these palindromic repeat sequences. This stored viral DNA segment is then called “Spacer”. When the same phage attacks for the second time, the bacteria quickly transcribes an RNA from the spacer sequence. In CRISPR Cas9 system, this RNA is called guide RNA. In this second exposure, bacteria activates a secret weapon; a multi-subunit protein called “Cas9” (CRISPR associated 9) , which takes this guide RNA as a template and scans all the DNA sequences present in the surrounding environment for complementarity with the gRNA.

Upon finding a proper match, Cas9 cleaves the DNA and renders the target viral DNA unable to harm the bacteria ever again and thus the bacterial cell survives a phage invasion during second or subsequent encounters. This CRISPR-Cas9 can be used as “genome editing tool”.

In 2012, Jennifer Doudna (University of California, Berkeley) and Charpentier (then at Umea, Sweden) and their colleagues offered the first demonstration of CRISPR’s potential, for which they received the Nobel prize in 2020. MIT Technology Review called CRISPR “the biggest biotech discovery of the century.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system has generated a lot of excitement in the scientific community because it is faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient than other existing genome editing methods. This research has the potential to eliminate diseases that run through some families (Such as Hemophilia, Sickle cell anemia etc.) Issues:

Most of the changes introduced with genome editing are limited to somatic cells, which are cells other than egg and sperm cells.
However, changes made to genes in egg or sperm cells (germline cells) or in the genes of an embryo could be passed to future
Germline cell and embryo genome editing bring up a number of ethical challenges, including whether it would be permissible to use this technology to enhance normal human traits (such as height or intelligence).
In Aug 2017, A group of scientists in the US at “Oregon Science Health University” have taken the first steps in modifying the genes in the human embryo using revolutionary CRISPR CAS technology (that can add or remove parts of DNA sequence with pin-point accuracy). They edited a defective allele leading to “inherited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy” (HCM).

Designer Baby

“Designer baby” refers to a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics Traits focused in designer babies

Gender
Appearance
Intelligence
Disease
Personality

Trait selection is performed through embryo screening, which involves a process called “pre-implantation genetic diagnosis” (PGD). Embryos are created by in vitro fertilization and grown to the eight-cell stage, at which point one or two cells are removed. Scientists then examine the DNA of these cells for defects, and embryos with desired DNA sequence/s are replaced in the womb.

Advantages:

Reduces risk of genetic diseases
Improved characteristics

Issues:

Termination of embryos (ethical issue)
Could create a gap in society as only rich can afford it

Designer Baby – Controversy

He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher from Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, created an international sensation with his claim that he had altered the genes of a human embryo that eventually resulted in the birth of twin girls in November 2018. This would be the first instance of human offspring having been produced with specific desired attributes, using newly-developed tools of gene “editing”, specifically CRISPR- cas9 technology. He targeted a gene which produces a protein on the surface of cells called “CCR5”. The HIV virus uses this protein to attach to and infect the cell.

The ethical dilemma

The kind of use that the technology has been put to by the Chinese researcher is something that many in the scientific community, and outside, are deeply uncomfortable with. There are several reasons behind it.

The technology was used to solve a problem — potential infection to HIV — that already has alternative solutions and treatments. It was not necessary to tamper with the genetic material, which can have unintended, and as yet unknown, consequences. The fact that the researcher made the announcement in the media and not in a peer-reviewed scientific journal has meant that the scientific community, as of now, has no way to verify the claims or whether the “editing” was carried out in the proper manner.

There are more serious issues as well. “The technology is extremely precise, but not 100% precise every time. There is a possibility that some other genes also get targeted. In such scenarios, unintended impacts cannot be ruled out”.

In most countries of the world, such experiments are banned. In fact, in many countries it would be punishable by law.

Then there is this highly problematic issue of trying to produce “designer” babies or human beings.

“The most promising use of the CRISPR technology is in treatment of diseases. For example, in sickle cell anaemia, a single gene mutation makes the blood sickle-shaped. “In such cases, the genetic codes of just one individual are being changed to cure a disease. It is gene therapy. But what the Chinese researcher has done is to edit the genes of an embryo. Such a change would be passed on to the offspring, basically, making changes in the genome of the next generation. If this is allowed, nothing stops people with access to CRISPR technology to produce babies with very specific traits”.

Genome Sequencing Studies

A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome—more than 3 billion DNA base pairs—is contained in all cells that have a nucleus.

Sequencing is the “process of determining the order of the nucleotide bases along a DNA strand”.

Briefly, the DNA sequencing method mimics the process of DNA replication to determine the order of nucleotides. DNA to be sequenced, called the template DNA, is allowed to replicate in the laboratory by providing all the necessary components like nucleotides, DNA polymerase enzyme, and short fragments of DNA acting as primers. In addition, modified versions of each nucleotide type are also added. These nucleotides when recruited by DNA polymerase, inhibit the DNA synthesis. Analyzing these reactions by electrophoresis, will not only reveal the size of each fragment synthesized but also the position where reaction is inhibited. Collectively, this information is used to deduce the nucleotide sequence in the template DNA.

Human Genome Project (1990-2003)

The Human Genome Project (HGP), an international, mega-collaborative project, led by USA’s National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, has revealed first human genome sequence.

This ultimate product of the HGP has given the world a resource of detailed information about the structure, organization and function of the complete set of human genes. This information can be thought of as the basic set of inheritable “instructions” for the development and function of a human being. It showed that there are about 3 bn letters and 20,500 genes in human DNA. Humans share 99.9% similarity with each other, while ~ 96% with Chimpanzee’s DNA.

Benefits of genomic studies

Understanding genome design
Understanding the evolution at DNA level
Migration of humans, birds
Diagnosis: pathogen identification – Cost-effective genetic tests
Enable efficient diagnosis of heritable cancers
Carrier screening applications for expectant couples

Precision Healthcare

It will help in the development of personalised medicine (Pharmacogenomics), anticipating diseases and modulating treatment according to the genome of patients. It can also prevent adverse drug reactions.

Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics is the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs. This relatively new field that combines pharmacology (the science of drugs) and genomics (the study of genes and their functions) to develop effective, safe medications and doses that will be tailored to a person’s genetic makeup (personalized medicine) Many drugs that are currently available are “one size fits all,” but they don’t work the same way for everyone. It can be difficult to predict who will benefit from a medication, who will not respond at all, and who will experience negative side effects (called adverse drug reactions).

The field of pharmacogenomics is still in its infancy. Its use is currently quite limited, but new approaches are under study in clinical trials. In the future, pharmacogenomics will allow the development of tailored drugs to treat a wide range of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and asthma.

Sustainable Agriculture

Similar benefits would come to agriculture if there is a better understanding of the genetic basis of the susceptibility of plants to pests, insects and other issues hampering productivity.

Host-Pathogen interactions

Genome sequencing can also provide an insight into genomic diversity and evolution of different microbial species causing infections in humans, plants and animals. This information can guide the processes in vaccine and drug development.

Genome sequencing studies in India

In 2009, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) announced that it had sequenced the genome of an Indian, making India one of six countries to achieve such a feat. However, no compendium of genes that differentiate Indian populations from, say Caucasian or African genomes exist.

100k GenomeAsia project

A group of Indian scientists and companies are involved with a 100k GenomeAsia project, led out of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, to sequence the whole genomes of 100k Asians, including 50,000 Indians.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Biotechnology would be closely associated with the project.

Like other countries (UK, AUS, USA etc.) use this to improve health as well as buck a global trend of designing ‘personalised medicine.’

IndiGen Project

In October 2019, CSIR announced completion of whole genome sequencing of 1008 Indian individuals representing diverse ethnic groups in the country.

It was undertaken by two CSIR institutions —

Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad

The data will act as baseline information for developing various applications in predictive and preventive medicine.

Scientists have also developed “IndiGenome card” and “mobile application” for researchers and clinicians to access clinically actionable information.

GenomeIndia project

This project cataloguing the genetic variation in Indians has been sanctioned by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) on January 16, 2020 for a period of 3 years to 20 institutions from varied disciplines across the country. “Centre for Brain Research” at Indian Institute of Sciences will act as nodal agency, and institutes like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and IITs will take part in it.

The proposed target of this project is to perform Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) of 10,000 individuals representing the country’s diverse population. Aim is to ultimately build a grid of the Indian “reference genome”, to understand fully the type and nature of diseases and traits that comprise the diverse Indian population.

Genetically Modified sOrganism (GMO): GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. This refers to bacteria or other microorganisms, or multicellular organisms such as plants and animals, whose genetic makeup has been altered.

Restriction enzymes:

There are several hundreds of different restriction enzymes; each identifies different sequences in DNA.

Figure: Restriction enzymes and Ligases in action (EcoRI is a restriction enzyme)

Ligase:

Vectors

Vectors are vehicles that are used in transferring the foreign genes into host organism.

Features of vectors

The vector must contain an origin of replication which allows the DNA to replicate itself and the DNA it carries independently of the host DNA.
The vector must contain “unique” restriction sites that are present only once in the entire circular vector DNA (Cloning site)
Most vectors code for some kind of selectable marker such as antibiotic resistance so that the presence of the vector can be confirmed by the ability of the host bacteria to grow in the presence of that Due to the risk of spreading antibiotic resistant genes, chromogenic substances such as Green fluorescent protein (GFP) are used these days.

Genetic engineering method – Basic steps (E.g. insulin production in bacteria)

Using restriction enzymes, gene of interest (insulin) is separated from the human Alternatively, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to make copies of insulin gene from human DNA.
Plasmid into which this gene will be cloned is also treated with the same restriction
DNA ligase enzyme is then used to join the gene and plasmid DNA.
This recombinant plasmid is transferred into the bacterium ( coli). This can be done using transformation method (using heat shock) or using electric shock.
Bacterial cells carrying human insulin gene are selected based on the marker gene (eg. antibiotic resistant gene) to eliminate those bacterial cells that have not received the rDNA in previous step.
Thus produced, genetically modified coli carrying human insulin gene can be used in bioreactors (fermenters) to produce insulin in large scale.

Advantages of transgenic animals Medical use:

Industrial use:

Transgenic cows producing more milk, milk with less lactose, less cholesterol
Transgenic sheep producing more wool
Transgenic pigs/cattle/fish with more meat
Rosie, a transgenic cow was created by American Scientists in 1997 to produce human protein-enriched The milk contained ‘human alpha-lactalbumin’ and was nutritionally a more balanced product for human babies than the normal cow milk.

Scientists are attempting to produce disease-resistant animals, such as influenza-resistant pigs and mastitis resistant cow (bacterial infection)
Spider silk:

Research use:

To create animals lacking functional gene in order to understand the function of important genes (knockout mouse)
Disease models: Animals genetically manipulated to exhibit disease symptoms so that effective treatment can be studied (eg. Oncomouse (R) for studying various cancers)

Issues:

Low survival rate of transgenic animals
Transgenic animals appear to show issues in breeding
Escape of transgenic animals in to nature might disturb the natural population due to any advantages that the transgenic animal may have for survival
Ethical concerns
Changing animal just for human benefit and disregard for any pain/discomfort that animal goes through, is an ethical concern.

Transgenic plants

Advantages of Transgenic Plants:

Improvement in plant yield
Improvement in nutritional quality (as well as market quality) eg. Golden rice (enriched for vitamin A) and Flavr savr tomatoes (delaying softening).
They provide pest (insect) and disease Resistance (eg. Bt crops)
They can also provide herbicide resistance (herbicides are used to kill weeds). Resistance to commonly used herbicides such as glyphosate, gluphosinate in cotton, maize, tomato etc.
Resistance to abiotic (environmental) stresses such as drought, soil salinity, soil acidity, cold, frost
Transgenic plants are also used in making industrial products (Biodiesel, biodegradable plastics, therapeutics (Edible vaccines)

Issues with transgenic plants/crops

Effects of genetically modified material could have on human health (allergies).
Spread of Resistance to antibiotics leading to super bugs that cannot be killed with antibiotic treatments
A concern about transgenic crops causing damage to the natural environment (to the non-targeted species). One example includes pollen from transgenic corn, which has been suggested to kill the Monarch butterfly larvae.
Hybridization of crops with nearby This could cause these weeds to attain resistance to herbicides (bacteria, virus, insects as well) that we have been trying to avoid for many years.
The idea of a population being uncomfortable with ingesting DNA that originated from another source, such as a virus or

Transgenic crops Golden rice

Advantages:

Many countries, like the Philippines, India, and Vietnam, rely on rice as their main source of nutrition. This leads to a Vitamin A deficiency which when severe enough can cause blindness and reduced immunity against diseases. Golden rice has been enriched with beta-carotene, giving it its golden color and addressing this deficiency.
Reduces the economic burden on a country that is struggling with such ill health in population.
Higher crop yield and reduced pesticide use has been noticed when tested this
Hold a great potential to contribute to poverty reduction, better nutrition, and sustainable

Issues:

Golden rice focuses on one nutrient (Vitamin A), so promoting this variety might cause malnutrition
It is unclear if there will be enough vitamin A left upon storage and cooking the grain to match the daily requirement
Possibility of human health risks (such as allergic responses to new genes)
Economic concerns (companies may sell the grain and seed for huge profits)

Bt-Cotton

The Bt cotton has inbuilt genetic resistance to bollworms and is very effective in controlling the yield losses caused by bollworms to a considerable extent
Use of Bt cotton reduces the use of pesticides, reducing the cost of cultivation.
It results in improvement of yield levels and improves margin of profit to the
It provides opportunities to grow cotton in areas of severe bollworm
Bt toxin protein only activates in highly basic environment in insect gut and not in acidic gut in higher animals and humans, so it is safe for animals and
It promotes eco-friendly cultivation of cotton and allows multiplication of beneficial insects e. parasites and predators of bollworms.

Drawbacks and issues surrounding Bt cotton

The seeds are more expensive than local non-genetically modified varieties, hence not affordable by small and marginal farmers
Effectiveness appears to decrease after 120 days
Contamination of transgenic seeds with other Bt hybrids which were not studied for their biosafety, raised the issues of environmental toxicity and the difficulty in testing the efficacy of actual Bt cotton
There are also issues around the actual efficacy of the Bollgard seeds with reports of bollworm infestations even in Bt cotton crops.
Non-profit organizations like Greenpeace have been voicing against Monsanto’s monopoly in the field of genetically modified crops blaming Monsanto for its commercial interests while disregarding the issues with GM crops.

Bt Brinjal

GM Mustard

GM Rubber

There are no plant species in India that can breed with natural rubber, hence no risk of genes flowing from GM rubber into any native species.

Cloning

In general, clones mean identical copies of each other. In biotechnology, cloning refers to several different processes used to produce genetically identical copies of a DNA or animals.

There are three different types of cloning:

Gene cloning: Also known as ‘DNA cloning’ or ‘molecular cloning’, refers to producing copies of genes or segments of DNA.
Reproductive cloning: Is a process of producing an identical copy of a whole animal
Therapeutic cloning: It refers to the process similar to reproductive cloning, but performed with an objective to produce human embryos for therapeutic

Cloning Dolly, the sheep

In 1996, Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, was created by Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell at Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Method: Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), described in the following figure.

Applications

Cloning can generate clones of those animals that show high yields of useful products (milk, wool, meat )
Clones can also be used to produce therapeutic proteins for human use, as this way therapeutic genes will be transferred to the animals from generation to generation without the need for introducing them every
This method might be employed in mitochondrial replacement therapy to prevent mitochondrial mediated genetic diseases
Through cloning, genetically identical animals for organ/tissue donation can be created
Theoretically, cloning may be used to clone endangered species
Cloned mammals can be used to study disease (disease models)

Drawbacks/issues

Reproductive cloning is very inefficient method (1 clone born out of 277 cloned embryos in case of Dolly and it is the case with several other cloned animals)
Abnormalities during pregnancy and post-pregnancy are observed such as pregnancy losses and defects in organ formation in cloned animals
Methods are laborious and expensive
Major challenge for cloning is addressing ethical questions such as how far can one interfere in production of life

In vitro Fertilization technology (IVF)

Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) and three parent child

York City was the creator of first three-parent-child (a baby boy), which was performed in Mexico (April 2016) due to restrictions in USA.

This unusual situation opens up potential ethical issues.

Northern White Rhino

In order to save this subspecies from extinction, scientists are considering following options

To perform IVF with the available frozen sperm samples and eggs (can be collected from the two surviving females of this species
Use frozen tissue samples of these animals to collect cells that can be induced into stem cells and then to sperms and egg cells in order to perform IVF
Cross breeding with other closest species, like “Southern white rhino”

Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation ACT 2021

Background

The need to regulate the Assisted Reproductive Technology Services is mainly to protect the affected Women and the Children from exploitation. The oocyte donor needs to be supported by an insurance cover, protected from multiple embryo implantation and children born through Assisted reproductive technology should be provided all rights equivalent to a Biological Children. The cryopreservation of sperm, oocytes and embryo by the ART Banks needs to be regulated and the bill intends to make Pre-Genetic Implantation Testing mandatory for the benefit of the child born through assisted reproductive technology.

Key Features of the Bill

The Bill will ensure confidentiality of intending couples and protect the rights of the child born through
Pre-Genetic Implantation Testing Mandatory: The test allows doctors to test embryos for any possible abnormal chromosomes before they are transferred to the uterus. This is to avoid any genetic diseases in the population born through these
Once the Bill is enacted by the Parliament, the National Board will be It shall lay down code of conduct to be observed by persons working at clinics, to set the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by clinics and banks (those store eggs/sperms).
The States and Union Territories shall constitute the State Boards and State Authorities within three months of the notification by the Central Government.
The State Board shall have the responsibility to follow the policies and plans laid by the National Board for clinics and Banks in the

The Bill also provides for National Registry and Registration Authority to maintain a Central database and assist the National Board in its functioning.
Egg donor needs to be supported by insurance
Multiple embryo implantation needs to be
Children born through ART should be provided all the rights equivalent to biological
Punishment: The Bill also proposes for a stringent punishment for those practising sex selection, sale of human embryos or gametes, running agencies/rackets/organisations for such unlawful
The bill has a provision that those involved in trafficking and sale of embryos will be fined Rs 10 lakh at first instance and in second instance the person could be imprisoned for up to 12 years.

Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021

In light of such commercial surrogacy business, the Surrogacy Regulation was enacted in December 2021 “to completely abolish commercial surrogacy”.

Highlights

The intending couple must be Indian citizens and married for at least five years with at least one of them being (Age restrictions: Woman: 23 – 50, Men: 26-55)
The surrogate mother has to be a genetically related to the couple, married and has had a child of her own (Age restriction: 25-35 years). Allowed only once in lifetime to act as a
No payment other than reasonable medical expenses can be made to the surrogate The surrogate child will be deemed to be the biological child of the intending couple.
Central and state governments will appoint appropriate authorities to grant eligibility certificates to the intending couple and the surrogate These authorities will also regulate surrogacy clinics.
The central and the state governments shall constitute the National Surrogacy Board (NSB) and the State Surrogacy Boards (SSB), Functions of the NSB include, (i) advising the central government on policy matters relating to surrogacy; (ii) laying down the code of conduct of surrogacy clinics; and (iii) supervising the functioning of SSBs.
Undertaking surrogacy for a fee, advertising it or exploiting the surrogate mother will be punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.

Key Issues and Analysis of surrogacy regulation

The Bill permits surrogacy only for couples who cannot conceive a This procedure is not allowed in case of any other medical conditions which could prevent a woman from giving birth to a child.
The need for surrogate mother to be ‘genetically related’ to the intending couple, potentially restricts the availability of surrogate
The law bans singles and LGBTQ couples from having surrogate children. Denying the right to have reproductive choices is seen as a violation of Article 21 as well as Article 14 of the Indian
The Bill specifies eligibility conditions that need to be fulfilled by the intending couple in order to commission surrogacy. Further, it allows additional conditions to be prescribed by regulations. This may be excessive delegation of legislative
For an abortion, in addition to complying with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, the approval of the appropriate authority and the consent of the surrogate mother is The intending couple has no say in the consent to abort.

Stem cells

Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types.

Important characteristics of stem cells:

Self-renewal: Stem cells are self-sustaining by replicating themselves for a much longer period of
They are unspecialized: Specialized cells have specific capabilities that allow them to perform certain For example, a red blood cell contains hemoglobin that allows it to carry oxygen. Stem cells have unspecialized capability and do not have tissue- specific structures to perform specialized functions.
They can give rise to specialized cells: Stem cells go through a process called differentiation and create special types of cells (muscle, nerve, skin, ).

Types of stem cells (Based on differential potential) Totipotent stem cells:

Stem cells that can form all the cell types in a body, also placental cells. Embryonic cells within the first couple of cell divisions after fertilization are the only cells that are totipotent.

Pluripotent stem cells:

Oligopotent stem cells:

These are progenitor cells that have ability to give rise to few types of cells such as hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to all blood cells.

Unipotent stem cells

Unipotent stem cells are restricted and they are capable to give rise to only a single cell type. Precursor cells found in various tissues are examples of these stem cells.

Types of stem cells (Based on location/source)

Applications:

The ideal application of stem cells is to use them to replace organs damaged from This has been accomplished in a report that has commonly become known as the story of “Claudia’s trachea. Where trachea damaged in a patient due to severe tuberculosis infection has been replaced with trachea from a diseased donor by replacing the cells with recipient’s cells grown stem cells.
Adult stem cells, such as blood-forming stem cells in bone marrow are currently the only type of stem cell commonly used to treat human diseases.
Adult stem cells have been used successfully in skin replacement for burn As discussed in gene therapy, combination of gene therapy and stem cell therapy approach has been used to treat a skin blistering disease called Epidermolysis bullosa.

The idea of a combination gene/stem cell therapy approach may be extended for use in induced pluripotent stem cells for other diseases such as “Severe combined immunodeficiency” (SCID).
Stem cell therapy have been considered for treating “blindness” in young patients and “spinal cord injuries”.
A few studies have also been carried out in human “heart regeneration” in patients undergoing open- heart Several of these have demonstrated that stem cells that are injected into the circulation or directly into the injured heart tissue appear to improve cardiac function and/or induce the formation of new capillaries.
Teeth and hair can also be grown from stem
Stem cells, through tissue culture or organoids, can also be used in testing drugs for toxicity before clinical

Issues:

In case with iPSCs, obtaining full functionality is still a challenge.

Gene therapy

Advantages of gene therapy

Gene therapy can cure genetic diseases that otherwise have no alternate
Gene therapy can be used for cancer treatment to kill the cancerous cells.
Gene expression can also be

In case of somatic therapy, where genes are introduced into somatic cells, therapeutic protein is continuously produced in the body which reduces the cost of treatment in long
Germ line gene therapy can even solve the given genetic problem

Issues with gene therapy

Immune response to viral vectors/foreign genes
Newly introduced genes can disrupt important genes in target cells leading to cancers
Some patients who underwent gene therapy developed multiple organ failure
Viral vectors can also cause cancers like leukemia

Status of gene therapy

FDA also approved second gene therapy for blood cancer, called Yescarta by Kite Pharma. It also uses same technology as Kymriah, CAR-T cell therapy.

CRISPR-Cas9

Most of the changes introduced with genome editing are limited to somatic cells, which are cells other than egg and sperm cells.
However, changes made to genes in egg or sperm cells (germline cells) or in the genes of an embryo could be passed to future
Germline cell and embryo genome editing bring up a number of ethical challenges, including whether it would be permissible to use this technology to enhance normal human traits (such as height or intelligence).
In Aug 2017, A group of scientists in the US at “Oregon Science Health University” have taken the first steps in modifying the genes in the human embryo using revolutionary CRISPR CAS technology (that can add or remove parts of DNA sequence with pin-point accuracy). They edited a defective allele leading to “inherited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy” (HCM).

Designer Baby

Gender
Appearance
Intelligence
Disease
Personality

Advantages:

Reduces risk of genetic diseases
Improved characteristics

Issues:

Termination of embryos (ethical issue)
Could create a gap in society as only rich can afford it

Designer Baby – Controversy

The ethical dilemma

and as yet unknown, consequences. The fact that the researcher made the announcement in the media and not in a peer-reviewed scientific journal has meant that the scientific community, as of now, has no way to verify the claims or whether the “editing” was carried out in the proper manner.

In most countries of the world, such experiments are banned. In fact, in many countries it would be punishable by law.

Then there is this highly problematic issue of trying to produce “designer” babies or human beings.

Genome Sequencing Studies

Sequencing is the “process of determining the order of the nucleotide bases along a DNA strand”.

Human Genome Project (1990-2003)

The Human Genome Project (HGP), an international, mega-collaborative project, led by USA’s National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, has revealed first human genome sequence.

Benefits of genomic studies

Understanding genome design
Understanding the evolution at DNA level
Migration of humans, birds
Diagnosis: pathogen identification – Cost-effective genetic tests
Enable efficient diagnosis of heritable cancers
Carrier screening applications for expectant couples

Precision Healthcare

Pharmacogenomics

Sustainable Agriculture

Similar benefits would come to agriculture if there is a better understanding of the genetic basis of the susceptibility of plants to pests, insects and other issues hampering productivity.

Host-Pathogen interactions

Genome sequencing studies in India

100k GenomeAsia project

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Biotechnology would be closely associated with the project.

Like other countries (UK, AUS, USA etc.) use this to improve health as well as buck a global trend of designing ‘personalised medicine.’

IndiGen Project

In October 2019, CSIR announced completion of whole genome sequencing of 1008 Indian individuals representing diverse ethnic groups in the country.

It was undertaken by two CSIR institutions —

Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad

The data will act as baseline information for developing various applications in predictive and preventive medicine.

Scientists have also developed “IndiGenome card” and “mobile application” for researchers and clinicians to access clinically actionable information.

GenomeIndia project

genome”, to understand fully the type and nature of diseases and traits that comprise the diverse Indian population.

Significance

The information generated from whole genome sequencing can facilitate future human genetics research in the country with greater precision, and to design a genome wide association array for the Indian population to develop precision healthcare and diagnostics for major diseases at affordable costs.

Potential Issues

Data & Storage: After collection of the sample, anonymity of the data and questions of its possible use and misuse would need to be addressed. Keeping the data on a cloud is fraught with problems and would raise questions of ownership of the data. India is yet to pass a “Data Privacy Bill” with adequate safeguards. Launching a Genome India Project before the privacy question is settled could give rise to another set of problems.

Social issues: The question of heredity and racial purity has obsessed civilisations, and more scientific studies of genes and classifying them could reinforce stereotypes and allow for politics and history to acquire a racial twist.

In India a lot of politics is now on the lines of who are “indigenous” people and who are not. A Genome India Project could add a genetic dimension to this issue.

Ethical issues: When genome sequencing data is available, there is a risk of researchers using such an information to privately perform “genome editing”, in haste, without understanding all the consequences such a technology can bring on designer babies.

As per Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, the data security and sharing measures for this project will be governed by the rules and regulations formulated by Government of India. The personal information of all individuals consenting to participate in the study is stripped off from any further records in this project. This process of de-identification ensures that the personal information of the participants is not compromised. Additionally, ethical measures are strictly adhered to in order to maintain data security and protection.

Earthbiogenome project

Earthbiogenome project (EBP) is an initiative by American scientists, aims to sequence, and characterize the genomes of all of Earth’s eukaryotic species.

There are about eight million eukaryotic species and the authors argue that being able to create their detailed genetic sequences will reveal unexpected, evolutionary connections among the genus, orders and families that make up the so-called Tree of Life. So far, less than 0.2% of eukaryote genomes have been sequenced and these are at low resolution.

The EBP has a 10-year road map and hopes to sequence about 1.5 million eukaryote species in three phases with global collaboration.

The outcomes of the EBP will inform a broad range of major issues facing humanity, such as the impact of climate change on biodiversity, the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems, and the preservation and enhancement of ecosystem services.

The “Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI)” has been selected as one of the Biological Knowledge and Resource Centres of the Indian Initiative on Earth BioGenome Sequencing (IIEBS), as part of the Earth BioGenome Project.

IIEBS is a nationwide project to decode the genetic information of all known species of plants and animals in the country.
The whole genome sequencing of 1,000 species of plants and animals will be taken up in the initial phase of IIEBS to be completed over a period of five years at an estimated cost of ₹440 crore.
The National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi is the coordinating centre for the nationwide project involving a total of 24 institutes.

Health and disease

Health does not simply mean ‘absence of disease’ or ‘physical fitness’. It could be defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. When people are healthy, they are more efficient at work. This increases productivity and brings economic prosperity. Health also increases longevity of people and reduces infant and maternal mortality.

Humans are frequently challenged by various disease causing microorganisms (pathogens). The common infectious agents include

Bacteria
Viruses
Fungi
Protozoa

Bacteria

Bacteria are prokaryotic, single celled organisms visible only under a microscope. They’re so small, ranging about 1 micrometre in length. They’re shaped like short rods, spheres or spirals. Despite their small size, they are complex and can communicate with other bacterial cells and function as a multicellular population.

Not all bacteria are harmful. In fact, less than 1% cause disease, and some bacteria that live in the body are beneficial. For instance, Lactobacillus acidophilus — a harmless bacterium that resides in the intestine — helps in the digestion of food, destroys some disease-causing organisms and provides nutrients to the body.

Common Bacterial Disease

Disease	Pathogen	Transmission	Systems affected & main symptom
Tuberculosis	Mycobacterium tuberculosis	Air	Respiratory system Cough with blood in sputum
Whooping cough (Pertussis)	Bordetella pertussis	by coughing or sneezing	Respiratory system High-pitched whoop sound during breathing
Pneumonia	Streptococcus pneumoniae	air-borne droplets from cough or sneeze	Respiratory system Pus filled alveoli
Anthrax	Bacillus Anthrasis	Through spores and contaminated animal products	Skin and lungs Skin ulcers
Diphtheria	Corynebacterium diphtheriae	Air respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing	Throat, nose, and tonsils
Cholera	Vibrio cholerae	Food/water	Intestines Severe diarrhoea
Typhoid	Salmonella typhi	Food/water	Multiple systems (digestive etc.) High fever
Leprosy	Mycobacterium leprae	Long and close contact with infected people through droplets in air	Skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes
Botulism	Clostridium botulinum	Food/soil with botulism spores	Neurotoxin – affects nervous system & muscular system
Syphilis	Treponema pallidum	Sexually-transmitted disease	multiple organ systems, including brain, nerves, eyes, heart, bones etc.
Tetanus	Clostridium tetani	Spores in soil and animal intestinal tracts	Neurotoxin – affects nervous system & muscular system

Plague

Yersinia pestis

bite of infected fleas, through direct contact with infected materials or by inhalation

Lymphatic system & lungs (depending on which form of plague is involved)

Viruses

Viruses are acellular, and much smaller than bacterial cells (~ 100 nanometers). In fact, viruses are basically just capsules that contain genetic material. They come in variety of shapes like helical, spheres, polyhedral or more complex structures. They either contain DNA or RNA as genetic material, and are known as DNA viruses and RNA viruses, respectively. To reproduce, viruses invade cells in host body, hijacking the machinery that makes cells work. Host cells are eventually destroyed during this process. Antiviral drugs are used in treating viral infections.

List of Common Viral diseases

Disease	Pathogen	Transmission	Systems affected & symptoms
Influenza	Influenza virus A, B, C	Talking, coughing & sneezing	Respiratory Fever, cold
Mumps	Mumps Virus (Paramixovirus)	Coughing & sneezing	Enlargement of parotid salivary glands
Polio	Polio Virus	Faecal & oral	Spasm of throat & chest muscles, fears from water, paralysis and death
Chicken Pox	Varicella zoster virus	Direct contact, coughing & sneezing	Dark rashes changing into vesicles
Hepatitis	Hep A, B, C, D, E	Food/water (A&E) B, C, &D: Direct contact, blood, or sexual contact	Inflammation of liver, jaundice, loss of appetite, fatigue, Liver cancer
Small Pox	Variola virus	Coughing & sneezing	rashes changing into pustules
Measles	Measles Virus	Coughing & sneezing	Skin eruptions, coughing, sneezing
Rabies	Rabies virus	Through saliva of infected animals	Central nervous system Fever, tingling, fear of water, hallucination
SARS	SARS coronavirus	coughing & sneezing	High fever with chills, body pains, hypoxia
Swine flu	H1N1	coughing & sneezing	Chills, fever, sore throat, body aches, diarrhea
Bird/Avian Flu	H5N1 H9N2	direct contact with infected animals/through contaminated surfaces	Mild upper respiratory infection (Fever & Cough) to severe pneumonia. Vomiting & Diarrhea
Ebola	Ebola virus	Blood & body fluids of infected people, sexual contact	Unexpected hemorrhage Diarrhea, headache, fever
Chikungunya	Chikungunya virus	Aedes aegypti Aedes albopictus	Joint pains, muscle pains, Fever
Dengue fever	Dengue Virus	Aedes aegypti Aedes albopictus	Platelet count decreases Hemorrhagic fever
Zika	Zika virus	Aedes aegypti	Microcephaly

		Through blood is a possibility	Neurological issues
Japanese encephalitis	Japanese encephalitis virus	Culex tritaeniorhynchus	Brain High fever, neck stiffness, seizure, paralysis
Nipah infection	Nipah virus	Infected bats, pigs, and people	Respiratory illness & encephalitis
Covid-19	SARS Cov-2	Droplets	Respiratory illness and can spread to other body parts
Monkey Pox	Monkeypox virus	Droplets, body fluids	Lesions on body, fever, swollen lymph nodes
Tomato flu	Foot and Mouth Disease Virus?	Direct contact, contaminated surfaces/diapers	High fever, rashes, and intense pain in joints

Protozoa

Protozoa are single-celled eukaryotic organisms that behave like tiny animals — hunting and gathering other microbes for food. Many protozoa reside in intestinal tract and are harmless. Others cause disease. Protozoa often spend part of their life cycle outside of humans or other hosts, living in food, soil, water or insects. Some protozoa invade humans through the food or the water. Others, such as malaria, are transmitted by mosquitoes. List of some protozoan diseases

Disease	Pathogen	Transmission	Systems affected & symptoms
Malaria	Plasmodium species	Anopheles mosquito	Fever, chills, vomiting, headache, anaemia
Kala-Azar (Leishmaniasis)	Leishmania species	Sandfly	Enlarged spleen & liver, skin ulcers, weight loss
Trypanosomiasis (African-sleeping sickness)	Trypanosoma species	Tsetse fly	Fever, headache, muscle & joint pains, sleeping abnormality, coma
Giardiasis	Giardia lamblia	Contaminated water	Abdominal cramps, nausea
Amoebic dysentery (Amoebiasis)	Entamoeba histolytica	Contaminated water/food	Stools with blood, abdominal pain, nausea

Fungi

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms which includes very familiar organisms such as yeast, mould, and mushrooms. Fungi are made up of small units of tiny threads known as hyphae, collectively these threads form a network called a mycelium. The cell walls of fungi are made of chitin. Fung show great diversity in morphology and habitat. Fungi are either saprophytic (they feed on dead plant and animal material), parasitic (they feed on a living host) or symbiotic (they share a mutually beneficial relationship with another organism such as plants). Some fungi (mushrooms) are eatable, some are responsible for rotting of food, while yeast, is a necessary ingredient to make most types of bread and is used in fermentation. Fungi is a rich source of antibiotics, which have been serving humans for close to a century in fighting bacterial infections. Fungi also cause several diseases in plants and animals: In humans, they cause ringworm, athlete’s foot, and candidiasis etc. Examples of plant diseases include, Rust in wheat, Late blight in potato.

HIV/AIDS

Human immunodeficiency virus infection / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is an RNA virus.

HIV is a major global public health issue. India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world. As per the government’s HIV Estimation 2021 report, the number of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in India is 24.01 lakh.

There is overall declining trend in India. As per HIV Estimation 2021, annual new HIV infections have declined by 46 per cent since 2010,”

HIV mainly target key cells in immune system (T-helper cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells). As the virus destroys and impairs the function of immune cells, infected individuals gradually become immune-deficient. Immune function is typically measured by “CD4 cell count”.

The most advanced stage of HIV infection is “Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome” (AIDS), which can take from 2 to 15 years (period of latency) to develop depending on the individual. AIDS is defined by the development of certain cancers, infections, or other severe clinical manifestations. TB is the most common infectious disease responsible for deaths of people infected with HIV.

Mode of transmission:

HIV is transmitted primarily via unprotected sexual intercourse
contaminated blood transfusions
hypodermic needles
from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, and breast feeding

Prevention

Prevention of HIV infection, primarily through safe sex and needle-exchange programs, is a key strategy to control the spread of the
HIV transmission can be nearly prevented if both the mother and the baby are provided with antiretroviral drugs as early as possible in pregnancy and during the period of
No effective vaccines exist for HIV

Risk groups

Homosexuals
Haemophiliacs and others who require frequent blood transfusions
Drug users
People who indulge in tattooing with unsterile needles

Treatment

HIV can be suppressed by combination ART (antiretroviral therapy) consisting of 3 or more ARV (antiretroviral) drugs. Current treatment consists of at least three medications belonging to two classes of antiretroviral agents. ART does not cure HIV infection but suppresses viral replication within a person’s body and allows an individual’s immune system to strengthen and regain the capacity to fight off infections.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Common symptoms of active TB are cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats. “Bacillus Calmette–Guérin” (BCG) is the most widely used vaccine worldwide to prevent TB.

Worldwide, India is the country with the highest burden of both TB and multi-drug resistant TB. India accounts for about a quarter of the global TB burden. TB infects 316 Indians per 100,000 — way above the 193 predicted by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019 — according to the National TB Prevalence Survey 2019-2021. More than 5 lakh deaths have happened in India in 2021 from TB as per estimates. There are an estimated 1,30,000 Multi Drug-Resistant-TB (MDR-TB) patients among the notified cases of pulmonary TB each year. India is also the country with the second highest number (after South Africa) of estimated HIV associated TB cases.

Drug-resistant TB:

Anti-TB medicines have been used for decades and strains that are resistant to 1 or more of the medicines have been observed. Drug resistance emerges when anti-TB medicines are used inappropriately, through incorrect prescription by health care providers, poor quality drugs, and patients stopping treatment prematurely.

Types of drug-resistant TB

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful, first-line anti-TB drugs.

XDR- tuberculosis (Extensive drug-resistant)

It is another form of TB caused by bacteria resistant to isoniazid and rifampin + any fluoroquinolone + at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (i.e., amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin)

TDR-TB (Total drug-resistant)

TDR was defined as non-susceptibility to all agents in all antimicrobial categories.

MDR-TB and XDR-TB do not respond to the standard six months of TB treatment with “first line” anti TB drugs. Treatment for them can often take two years or more and requires treatment with other drugs that are less potent, more toxic and much more expensive.

In 2019, FDA approved Pretomanid in combination with Bedaquiline and Linezolid for the treatment of drug- resistant TB.

The Government of India launched the National Strategic Plan (NSP) to control cases of Tuberculosis in the country during the period 2012-2017. The key components of the NSP (2012-2017) are:

Strengthening and improving the quality of basic DOTS services (Directly Observed Treatment Short course)
Deploying improved rapid diagnostics to the field level
Expanding efforts to engage all care providers
Expanding diagnosis and treatment of drug resistant TB cases
Improving communication, outreach and social
Promoting research for development and implementation of improved tools and
Utilizing Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools for strengthening TB surveillance.
The Central TB Division developed a case based and web based system called “Nikshay”. This helped with the reporting of all TB cases.

NSP (2017-2025)

In 2017, it was announced that the national goal was now the “elimination of TB” in India by 2025. Next five year plan for NSP 2017-2025 was launched.

The Goal is to achieve a rapid decline in the burden of TB, mortality and morbidity, while working towards the elimination of TB in India by 2025.

The requirements for moving towards TB elimination in India have been arranged in four strategic areas of Detect, Treat, Prevent & Build.

There are also four main priority areas in the NSP which are:

Private sector engagement
Plugging the “leak” from the TB care cascade (i.e. people with TB going missing from care)
Active case finding among key populations.
and for people in “high risk” groups, preventing the development of active TB in people with latent TB
Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant TB (PMDT)

Mission Indradhanush programme

It is a health mission of the government of India launched by the union health minister P.Nadda on 25^th December 2014.

It aims to immunize all children below 2 years as well as all pregnant women against 7 vaccine preventable
The diseases being Diptheria, whooping cough, Tetanus, Poliomyelitis, Tuberculosis, Measles, and
In addition to these, vaccines for Japanese encephalitis, and Haemophilus influenza type B are also being provided in selected states.
In 2016, four new additions have been Namely Rubella, Japanese encephalitis, Injectable polio vaccine bivalent, and rotavirus.
201 districts will be covered in the first phase of which 82 are from the states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya
The 201 districts selected have nearly 50% of all unvaccinated children in the
The mission follow planning and administration like PPI (Pulse polio immunisation).

Originally, the achievement of full immunization under Mission Indradhanush to at least 90% coverage was aim to be achieved by 2020.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)

This special drive focused on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December
With a sharpened focus on high priority districts and urban areas, under IMI, four consecutive immunization rounds will be conducted for 7 days in 173 districts — 121 districts and 17 cities in 16 states and 52 districts in 8 north eastern states — every month between October 2017 and January
Intensified Mission Indradhanush will cover low performing areas in the selected districts and urban These areas have been selected through triangulation of data available under national surveys, Health Management Information System data and World Health Organization concurrent monitoring data.
MI is supported by 11 other ministries and departments, such as Ministry of Women and Child Development, Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Youth Affairs among The convergence of ground level workers of various departments like ASHA, ANMs, Anganwadi workers, Zila preraks under National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), self-help groups will be ensured for better coordination and effective implementation of the programme.
Further, it would be reviewed by the Cabinet Secretary at the National level and will continue to be monitored at the highest level under a special initiative ‘Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI)’.

‘Mission Indradhanush’ has been selected as one of the 12 best practices globally and has been featured in a special issue of the British Medical Journal titled ‘Improving vaccination coverage in India: lessons from Intensified Mission Indradhanush, a cross-sectoral systems strengthening strategy’.

Government launched “Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 2.0” in December 2019 to deliver a program that is informed by the lessons learnt from the previous phases and seeks to escalate efforts to achieve the goal of attaining a 90% national immunization coverage across India. The program will be delivered in 271 districts of 27 states and 652 blocks of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar among hard-to-reach and tribal populations.

Union Health Ministry also launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0 in February 2021 and Phase 4.0 in February 2022.

Children and pregnant women who have missed their vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic are of
IMI 3.0 Conducted in two rounds from February 22 and March 22 across 250 districts/urban areas identified in 29 States/Union Territories.

IMI 0 has 3 rounds and is being conducted in 416 districts (including 75 districts identified for Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav) across 33 States/UTs in the country.

Vaccine for malaria

RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) – also known as “Mosquirix” – is the first malarial vaccine that provides partial protection against malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum (deadliest form of malaria) in young children. The vaccine is being evaluated in sub-Saharan Africa as a complementary malaria control tool that potentially could be added to (and not replace) the core package of WHO-recommended preventive, diagnostic and treatment measures. Following the success in pilot projects conducted in 2016, WHO rolled out RTS,S vaccine in immunization programs in selected areas in 3 countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, starting 2019.

Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobials, more specifically antibiotics, which often considered as “magic bullets”, helped mankind in fighting bacterial infections since about a century. Antibiotics work either by damaging bacterial cell wall, protein-building or DNA-copying machinery, or metabolic processes that are specific to bacteria. Given viruses do not have these targets (such as cell wall, protein synthesizing machinery) they cannot be killed by antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in a way that reduces the effectiveness of antibiotics, designed to cure or prevent infections. The bacteria survive and continue to multiply even in presence of an antibiotic, causing more harm.

There is a growing concern of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) posing a challenge to global healthcare system. Irrational use of antimicrobials, improper dosage, incomplete course of treatment, self-medication, improper disposal of antibiotics is considered as reasons why antimicrobial resistance is growing.

In April 2017, Indian government came up with finalized National Action Plan (NAP) on AMR

The strategic objectives of NAP-AMR are aligned with the global action plan (GAP) based on national needs and priorities, and in addition to the 5 priorities of GAP-AMR, India has a sixth priority that is India-specific dealing with India’s leadership on AMR – including international, national and sub-national collaborations on AMR.

Six strategic priorities have been identified under the NAP-AMR

improving awareness and understanding of AMR through effective communication, education and training; (to raise awareness amongst all stakeholders and train professionals)
strengthening knowledge and evidence through surveillance
reducing the incidence of infection through effective infection prevention and control (by strengthening regulations, ensuring access and surveillance of antimicrobial use)
optimizing the use of antimicrobial agents in health, animals and food
promoting investments for AMR activities, research and innovations
strengthening India’s leadership on through international collaborations to ensure India’s contributions towards global efforts to contain AMR.

Potential Issues

In India a lot of politics is now on the lines of who are “indigenous” people and who are not. A Genome India Project could add a genetic dimension to this issue.

Earthbiogenome project

Earthbiogenome project (EBP) is an initiative by American scientists, aims to sequence, and characterize the genomes of all of Earth’s eukaryotic species.

The EBP has a 10-year road map and hopes to sequence about 1.5 million eukaryote species in three phases with global collaboration.

IIEBS is a nationwide project to decode the genetic information of all known species of plants and animals in the country.
The whole genome sequencing of 1,000 species of plants and animals will be taken up in the initial phase of IIEBS to be completed over a period of five years at an estimated cost of ₹440 crore.
The National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi is the coordinating centre for the nationwide project involving a total of 24 institutes.

Health and disease

Humans are frequently challenged by various disease causing microorganisms (pathogens). The common infectious agents include

Bacteria
Viruses
Fungi
Protozoa

Bacteria

Common Bacterial Disease

Disease	Pathogen	Transmission	Systems affected & main symptom
Tuberculosis	Mycobacterium tuberculosis	Air	Respiratory system Cough with blood in sputum
Whooping cough (Pertussis)	Bordetella pertussis	by coughing or sneezing	Respiratory system High-pitched whoop sound during breathing
Pneumonia	Streptococcus pneumoniae	air-borne droplets from cough or sneeze	Respiratory system Pus filled alveoli
Anthrax	Bacillus Anthrasis	Through spores and contaminated animal products	Skin and lungs Skin ulcers
Diphtheria	Corynebacterium diphtheriae	Air respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing	Throat, nose, and tonsils
Cholera	Vibrio cholerae	Food/water	Intestines Severe diarrhoea
Typhoid	Salmonella typhi	Food/water	Multiple systems (digestive etc.) High fever
Leprosy	Mycobacterium leprae	Long and close contact with infected people through droplets in air	Skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes
Botulism	Clostridium botulinum	Food/soil with botulism spores	Neurotoxin – affects nervous system & muscular system
Syphilis	Treponema pallidum	Sexually-transmitted disease	multiple organ systems, including brain, nerves, eyes, heart, bones etc.
Tetanus	Clostridium tetani	Spores in soil and animal intestinal tracts	Neurotoxin – affects nervous system & muscular system

Plague

Yersinia pestis

bite of infected fleas, through direct contact with infected materials or by inhalation

Lymphatic system & lungs (depending on which form of plague is involved)

Viruses

List of Common Viral diseases

Disease	Pathogen	Transmission	Systems affected & symptoms
Influenza	Influenza virus A, B, C	Talking, coughing & sneezing	Respiratory Fever, cold
Mumps	Mumps Virus (Paramixovirus)	Coughing & sneezing	Enlargement of parotid salivary glands
Polio	Polio Virus	Faecal & oral	Spasm of throat & chest muscles, fears from water, paralysis and death
Chicken Pox	Varicella zoster virus	Direct contact, coughing & sneezing	Dark rashes changing into vesicles
Hepatitis	Hep A, B, C, D, E	Food/water (A&E) B, C, &D: Direct contact, blood, or sexual contact	Inflammation of liver, jaundice, loss of appetite, fatigue, Liver cancer
Small Pox	Variola virus	Coughing & sneezing	rashes changing into pustules
Measles	Measles Virus	Coughing & sneezing	Skin eruptions, coughing, sneezing
Rabies	Rabies virus	Through saliva of infected animals	Central nervous system Fever, tingling, fear of water, hallucination
SARS	SARS coronavirus	coughing & sneezing	High fever with chills, body pains, hypoxia
Swine flu	H1N1	coughing & sneezing	Chills, fever, sore throat, body aches, diarrhea
Bird/Avian Flu	H5N1 H9N2	direct contact with infected animals/through contaminated surfaces	Mild upper respiratory infection (Fever & Cough) to severe pneumonia. Vomiting & Diarrhea
Ebola	Ebola virus	Blood & body fluids of infected people, sexual contact	Unexpected hemorrhage Diarrhea, headache, fever
Chikungunya	Chikungunya virus	Aedes aegypti Aedes albopictus	Joint pains, muscle pains, Fever
Dengue fever	Dengue Virus	Aedes aegypti Aedes albopictus	Platelet count decreases Hemorrhagic fever
Zika	Zika virus	Aedes aegypti	Microcephaly

		Through blood is a possibility	Neurological issues
Japanese encephalitis	Japanese encephalitis virus	Culex tritaeniorhynchus	Brain High fever, neck stiffness, seizure, paralysis
Nipah infection	Nipah virus	Infected bats, pigs, and people	Respiratory illness & encephalitis
Covid-19	SARS Cov-2	Droplets	Respiratory illness and can spread to other body parts
Monkey Pox	Monkeypox virus	Droplets, body fluids	Lesions on body, fever, swollen lymph nodes
Tomato flu	Foot and Mouth Disease Virus?	Direct contact, contaminated surfaces/diapers	High fever, rashes, and intense pain in joints

Protozoa

Disease	Pathogen	Transmission	Systems affected & symptoms
Malaria	Plasmodium species	Anopheles mosquito	Fever, chills, vomiting, headache, anaemia
Kala-Azar (Leishmaniasis)	Leishmania species	Sandfly	Enlarged spleen & liver, skin ulcers, weight loss
Trypanosomiasis (African-sleeping sickness)	Trypanosoma species	Tsetse fly	Fever, headache, muscle & joint pains, sleeping abnormality, coma
Giardiasis	Giardia lamblia	Contaminated water	Abdominal cramps, nausea
Amoebic dysentery (Amoebiasis)	Entamoeba histolytica	Contaminated water/food	Stools with blood, abdominal pain, nausea

Fungi

Some fungi (mushrooms) are eatable, some are responsible for rotting of food, while yeast, is a necessary ingredient to make most types of bread and is used in fermentation. Fungi is a rich source of antibiotics, which have been serving humans for close to a century in fighting bacterial infections. Fungi also cause several diseases in plants and animals: In humans, they cause ringworm, athlete’s foot, and candidiasis etc. Examples of plant diseases include, Rust in wheat, Late blight in potato.

HIV/AIDS

There is overall declining trend in India. As per HIV Estimation 2021, annual new HIV infections have declined by 46 per cent since 2010,”

Mode of transmission:

HIV is transmitted primarily via unprotected sexual intercourse
contaminated blood transfusions
hypodermic needles
from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, and breast feeding

Prevention

Prevention of HIV infection, primarily through safe sex and needle-exchange programs, is a key strategy to control the spread of the
HIV transmission can be nearly prevented if both the mother and the baby are provided with antiretroviral drugs as early as possible in pregnancy and during the period of
No effective vaccines exist for HIV

Risk groups

Homosexuals
Haemophiliacs and others who require frequent blood transfusions
Drug users
People who indulge in tattooing with unsterile needles

Treatment

Tuberculosis

Drug-resistant TB:

Types of drug-resistant TB

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful, first-line anti-TB drugs.

XDR- tuberculosis (Extensive drug-resistant)

It is another form of TB caused by bacteria resistant to isoniazid and rifampin + any fluoroquinolone + at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (i.e., amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin)

TDR-TB (Total drug-resistant)

TDR was defined as non-susceptibility to all agents in all antimicrobial categories.

In 2019, FDA approved Pretomanid in combination with Bedaquiline and Linezolid for the treatment of drug- resistant TB.

The Government of India launched the National Strategic Plan (NSP) to control cases of Tuberculosis in the country during the period 2012-2017. The key components of the NSP (2012-2017) are:

Strengthening and improving the quality of basic DOTS services (Directly Observed Treatment Short course)
Deploying improved rapid diagnostics to the field level
Expanding efforts to engage all care providers
Expanding diagnosis and treatment of drug resistant TB cases
Improving communication, outreach and social
Promoting research for development and implementation of improved tools and
Utilizing Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools for strengthening TB surveillance.
The Central TB Division developed a case based and web based system called “Nikshay”. This helped with the reporting of all TB cases.

NSP (2017-2025)

In 2017, it was announced that the national goal was now the “elimination of TB” in India by 2025. Next five year plan for NSP 2017-2025 was launched.

The Goal is to achieve a rapid decline in the burden of TB, mortality and morbidity, while working towards the elimination of TB in India by 2025.

The requirements for moving towards TB elimination in India have been arranged in four strategic areas of Detect, Treat, Prevent & Build.

There are also four main priority areas in the NSP which are:

Private sector engagement
Plugging the “leak” from the TB care cascade (i.e. people with TB going missing from care)
Active case finding among key populations.
and for people in “high risk” groups, preventing the development of active TB in people with latent TB
Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant TB (PMDT)

Mission Indradhanush programme

It is a health mission of the government of India launched by the union health minister P.Nadda on 25^th December 2014.
It aims to immunize all children below 2 years as well as all pregnant women against 7 vaccine preventable
The diseases being Diptheria, whooping cough, Tetanus, Poliomyelitis, Tuberculosis, Measles, and
In addition to these, vaccines for Japanese encephalitis, and Haemophilus influenza type B are also being provided in selected states.
In 2016, four new additions have been Namely Rubella, Japanese encephalitis, Injectable polio vaccine bivalent, and rotavirus.
201 districts will be covered in the first phase of which 82 are from the states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya
The 201 districts selected have nearly 50% of all unvaccinated children in the
The mission follow planning and administration like PPI (Pulse polio immunisation).

Originally, the achievement of full immunization under Mission Indradhanush to at least 90% coverage was aim to be achieved by 2020.

Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)

This special drive focused on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December
With a sharpened focus on high priority districts and urban areas, under IMI, four consecutive immunization rounds will be conducted for 7 days in 173 districts — 121 districts and 17 cities in 16 states and 52 districts in 8 north eastern states — every month between October 2017 and January
Intensified Mission Indradhanush will cover low performing areas in the selected districts and urban These areas have been selected through triangulation of data available under national surveys, Health Management Information System data and World Health Organization concurrent monitoring data.
MI is supported by 11 other ministries and departments, such as Ministry of Women and Child Development, Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Youth Affairs among The convergence of ground level workers of various departments like ASHA, ANMs, Anganwadi workers, Zila preraks under National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), self-help groups will be ensured for better coordination and effective implementation of the programme.
Further, it would be reviewed by the Cabinet Secretary at the National level and will continue to be monitored at the highest level under a special initiative ‘Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI)’.

Union Health Ministry also launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0 in February 2021 and Phase 4.0 in February 2022.

Children and pregnant women who have missed their vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic are of
IMI 3.0 Conducted in two rounds from February 22 and March 22 across 250 districts/urban areas identified in 29 States/Union Territories.
IMI 0 has 3 rounds and is being conducted in 416 districts (including 75 districts identified for Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav) across 33 States/UTs in the country.

Vaccine for malaria

Antimicrobial Resistance

In April 2017, Indian government came up with finalized National Action Plan (NAP) on AMR

Six strategic priorities have been identified under the NAP-AMR

improving awareness and understanding of AMR through effective communication, education and training; (to raise awareness amongst all stakeholders and train professionals)
strengthening knowledge and evidence through surveillance
reducing the incidence of infection through effective infection prevention and control (by strengthening regulations, ensuring access and surveillance of antimicrobial use)
optimizing the use of antimicrobial agents in health, animals and food
promoting investments for AMR activities, research and innovations
strengthening India’s leadership on through international collaborations to ensure India’s contributions towards global efforts to contain AMR.

CHAPTER 2: NANO TECHNOLOGY

Introduction

Nanotechnology refers to controlling, building, and restructuring materials and devices on the scale of atoms and molecules. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth (10^-9 m) of a meter. To get the sense of the nano scales, the width of the human hair is 80,000 nm and the smallest things visible with the naked human eye are 10,000 nm across. At nano scales, the basic rules of chemistry and physics are not applicable.

When materials are constructed at their atomic and molecular level, some very unusual and useful properties are generated. One example of this technology is the carbon nanotube discovered in 1991, which is only a few nanometers in diameter but can conduct electricity better than copper: 100 times stronger than steel but only one sixth of its weight.

Since the dimensions of atoms and molecules are in nanometers, this technology is called nanotechnology. The resulting materials are called nanomaterials. Nanomaterials can be used for wide variety of things, ranging from purification of water to wrinkle free fabrics to curing cancer.

Brief History

The ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology started with a talk entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist “Richard Feynman” at an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology in 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used.

Over a decade later, in 1974, in his explorations of ultra-precision machining, “Prof. Norio Taniguchi” (University of Tokyo, Japan) coined the term nanotechnology. It wasn’t until 1981, with the development of the scanning tunneling microscope (by Heinrich Rohrer & Gerd Binnig) that could aid in viewing individual atoms that modern nanotechnology began.

“Eric Drexler” expanded Taniguchi’s definition and popularized nanotechnology in his book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, published in 1986.

What’s special about nanomaterials?

Matter such as gases, liquids, and solids can exhibit unusual physical, chemical, and biological properties at the nanoscale, differing in important ways from the properties of bulk materials and single atoms or molecules. Some nanostructured materials are stronger or have different magnetic properties compared to other forms or sizes of the same material. Others are better at conducting heat or electricity. They may become more chemically reactive or reflect light better or change color as their size or structure is altered.

Applications

Nanotechnology impacts all areas of our lives. These include medicine and health, agriculture, manufacturing, electronics, computers, telecommunication and information technologies, environment and energy storage.

Medicine and health

Antibodies attached to carbon nanotubes in chips being prepared to detect cancer cells in the blood stream (also other disease conditions like heart issues etc.). This method could be used in simple lab tests to provide early detection of cancer cells.
Nanoparticles are being used in imaging techniques for diagnostic purposes.
Nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to specific types of cells (such as cancer cells). Particles are engineered so that they are attracted to diseased cells, which allows direct treatment of those This technique reduces damage to healthy cells in the body.
Nanorobots could be programmed to enter blood stream and perform complicated surgeries in human
Bandages containing silver nanoparticles are effective in killing disease causing microbes due to their antimicrobial

Energy

Low cost and highly efficient nano-solar panels are under development that could address the limitations of current giant solar panels.
Quantum dots – small semiconductor particles just a few nanometres in size – are used by NASA to help boost the performance of solar cells. The aim here is to replace the heavy, fragile solar cells that are currently used by spacecraft with ones that incorporate a mixture of organic and inorganic nanostructured materials, to make ultra-lightweight and flexible solar
Nano-bioengineering of enzymes is aiming to enable conversion of cellulose from wood chips, corn stalks, unfertilized perennial grasses, , into ethanol for fuel. Cellulosic nanomaterials have demonstrated potential applications in a wide array of industrial sectors, including electronics, construction, packaging, food, energy, health care, automotive, and defense.

Manufacturing and other industrial applications

Nanoscale additives to fabrics can help them resist wrinkling, staining, and bacterial
Clear nanoscale films on eyeglasses, computer and camera displays, windows, and other surfaces can make them water- and residue-repellent, antireflective, self-cleaning, resistant to ultraviolet or infrared light, antifog, antimicrobial, scratch-resistant, or electrically conductive.
Nanoscale materials are beginning to enable washable, durable “smart fabrics” equipped with flexible nanoscale sensors and electronics with capabilities for health monitoring, solar energy capture, and energy harvesting through movement.
Lightweight cars, trucks, airplanes, boats, and space craft manufactured using nanomaterials could lead to significant fuel savings.
Nanoscale additives in polymer composite materials are being used in baseball bats, tennis rackets, bicycles, motorcycle helmets, automobile parts, luggage, and power tool housings, making them lightweight, stiff, durable, and resilient.
Carbon nanotube sheets are now being produced for use in next-generation air vehicles. For example, the combination of light weight and conductivity makes them ideal for applications such as electromagnetic shielding and thermal management.
Nano-engineered materials in automotive products include high-power rechargeable battery systems; thermoelectric materials for temperature control; tires with lower rolling resistance; high-efficiency/low- cost sensors and electronics; thin-film smart solar panels; and fuel additives for cleaner exhaust and extended
Nanostructured ceramic coatings exhibit much greater toughness than conventional wear resistant coatings for machine Nanotechnology-enabled lubricants and engine oils also significantly reduce wear and tear, which can significantly extend the lifetimes of moving parts in everything from power tools to industrial machinery.
Nano-engineered materials make superior household products such as degreasers and stain removers; environmental sensors, air purifiers, and filters; antibacterial cleansers; and specialized paints and sealing products, such a self-cleaning house paints that resist dirt and marks.
Nanoscale materials are also being incorporated into a variety of personal care products to improve Nanoscale titanium dioxide and zinc oxide have been used for years in sunscreen to provide protection from the sun while appearing invisible on the skin.

Agriculture

Nanoparticles can serve as ‘magic bullets’, containing herbicides, chemicals, or genes, which target particular plant parts to release their Nanocapsules can enable effective penetration of herbicides through cuticles and tissues, allowing slow and constant release of the active substances.
Through the use of nanomaterials and global positioning systems with satellite imaging of fields, farm managers could remotely detect crop pests or evidence of stress such as drought. Once pest or drought is detected, there would be automatic adjustment of pesticide applications or irrigation
Nanosensors dispersed in the field can detect the presence of plant viruses and the level of soil
Nanoencapsulated slow-release fertilizers have also become a trend to save fertilizer consumption and to minimize environmental pollution.

Liquid Nano Urea

It is urea, a chemical nitrogen fertiliser, in the form of a nanoparticle. It artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants. The product has been developed at IFFCO’s Nano Biotechnology Research Centre (NBRC) at Kalol, Gujarat.

It is aimed at reducing the unbalanced and indiscriminate use of conventional urea, increase crop productivity, and reduce soil, water, and air pollution. While conventional urea has an efficiency of about 25 per cent, the efficiency of liquid nano urea can be as high as 85-90 per cent. Conventional urea fails to have the desired impact on crops as it is often applied incorrectly, and the nitrogen in it is vaporised or lost as gas.

A lot of nitrogen is also washed away during irrigation. Liquid nano urea is sprayed directly on the leaves and gets absorbed by the plant. It has a shelf life of a year, and traditional urea it doesn’t undergo “caking” when it comes in contact with moisture.

Space Technology

Nanotechnology can provide a new form of propulsion systems like electric propulsion, potential to significantly reduce the required propellant mass compared to conventional chemical rockets, allowing to increase the payload capacity or decrease the launch
In order to meet emerging challenges, such as ASAT (anti-satellite) missile systems, military strategists and researchers are developing novel technologies to protect their space assets. In view of this, a US defense company (Raytheon) has developed a counter measure system using quantum dots to protect space assets such as satellites from missile They have developed a decoy consisting of quantum dots of different sizes and shapes that are engineered to emit radiation having a radiation profile similar to that of the asset.
Advanced nanomaterials such as the newly developed, isotopically enriched boron nanotubes could pave the path to future spacecraft with nanosensor-integrated hulls that provide effective radiation shielding as well as energy storage.
For over a century scientist have dreamed of creating a space elevator to move astronauts and payloads between the Earth and low earth orbit. Theoretically, a “space elevator” would be composed of a cable tethered to the Earth, likely somewhere near the equator where hurricanes and tornadoes are scarce with the center of mass in geostationary Such a space elevator cable will probably be made from carbon nanotubes.
Bio-nano robots can be incorporated in spacesuits of astronauts, which would respond to damages to the spacesuit, for example to seal up They can also provide drugs in a medical emergency.

Computing and electronics: Nanotechnology has greatly contributed to major advances in computing and electronics, leading to faster, smaller, and more portable systems that can manage and store larger and larger amounts of information. These continuously evolving applications include:

Transistors, the basic switches that enable all modern computing, have become smaller and smaller through nanotechnology. At the turn of the century, a typical transistor was 130 to 250 nanometers in In 2014, Intel created a 14 nm transistor, then IBM created the first 7 nm transistor in 2015, and then Lawrence Berkeley National Lab demonstrated a 1 nm transistor in 2016. Smaller, faster, and better transistors may mean that soon computer’s entire memory may be stored on a single tiny chip.
Using magnetic random-access memory (MRAM), computers will be able to “boot” almost instantly. MRAM is enabled by nanometer‐scale magnetic tunnel junctions and can quickly and effectively save data during a system shutdown or enable resume‐play features.
Ultra-high-definition displays and televisions are now being sold that use quantum dots to produce more vibrant colors while being more energy efficient.

Challenges and concerns of nanotechnology

Due to the extremely small dimensions, large surface area and high reactivity, nanomaterials have the potential ability to penetrate living cells quite readily. As a result, their unique nano-features may also make them potentially hazardous for human health and environmental safety.

Health concerns

As it is well known, the dimensions of nanoparticles match with some of the biological molecules like proteins or nucleic acids. Therefore, when the nanoparticles come in contact with the tissues or the fluids of the body, they get absorbed easily. These absorbed nanoparticles reach the target sites like liver, blood cells, heart etc. The size, shape, surface properties, solubility, chemical composition of the nanoparticles controls the mechanisms for the nanoparticle toxicity. Mainly, nanoparticles interact with the human system through inhalation, membrane translocation or drug delivery.

Titanium dioxide, carbon black, cobalt, nickel, polystyrene, and latex are the examples of the nanoparticles responsible for respiratory toxicity. In drug delivery, nanostructures are used either in the form of drug or as a carrier for the drug. However, there are many issues related to this which are yet to be resolved. Different hydrogels, gold, iron oxide, albumin, gelatin, and many more are used in drug delivery which are delivered via oral, membranes or skin.

These nanoparticles are attached or entrapped in the special chemical species to save the drug from the toxicity of nontargeted organs. Therefore, some nanoparticles especially, the intravenously injected, stay for long period into the circulatory system.

Sometimes, even after the recovery the nanoparticle or the drug carrier stays into the human system which adversely affects the health. Sometimes, these nanoparticles cross the blood brain barrier which is responsible for brain toxicity

A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, on the toxicity of nanomaterials found that carbon nanoparticles inhaled by rats “reached the olfactory bulb and also the cerebrum and cerebellum, suggesting that translocation to the brain occurred through the nasal mucosa along the olfactory nerve to the brain.” This ability to translocate opens up questions about the effect different types of nanoparticles could have on human health.

Many commonly used products have nanoparticles; for instance, titanium dioxide nanoparticles are widely used in sunscreens and cosmetics as sun-protection. In the US, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has issued safe occupational exposure limit of 0.1 mg/m3 for nanoscale titanium dioxide. This was after reports of incidences of lung cancer in rats at doses of 10 mg/m3 and above surfaced. Studies have also shown that some carbon nanotubes can also cause the onset of mesothelioma – cancer previously thought to be only associated with asbestos exposure.

There is also a concern that nano-scale titanium dioxide particles have higher photo-reactivity than coarser particles and may generate free radicals that can damage cells.

Environmental concerns

Nanotechnology although strives towards developing cleaner technology, toxic materials may be used in the production of them, which are neither human-friendly nor environmental-friendly. They can create serious issues in connection with the environment.

Nanomaterials themselves constitute a new generation of toxic chemicals. As particle size decreases, in many nanomaterials the production of free radicals increases, as does toxicity. Studies have shown that nanomaterials now in commercial use can damage human DNA, negatively affect cellular function and even cause cell death. There is a small but growing body of scientific studies showing that some nanomaterials are toxic to commonly used environmental indicators such as algae, invertebrate and fish species.

Studies have also found that two types of carbon nonmaterial – fullerenes and multi walled nanotubes – delayed rice flowering by at least 1 month and reduced significantly the yield of exposed rice plants (Lin et al. 2009).

Exposure to carbon nanotubes also makes wheat plants more vulnerable to uptake of pollutants (Wild and Jones 2009). Carbon nanotubes pierced the cell wall of wheat plants’ roots, providing a ‘pipe’ through which pollutants were transported into living cells. Carbon nanomaterials could reduce yields of one of the world’s most important staple crops and leave another more vulnerable to pollutant uptake.

Manufacturing nanomaterials and nano-devices is extremely energy-intensive, requires large amount of water and energy, which is not desirable.

Furthermore, use of nano-pesticides in agriculture will entrench our chemical dependence at a time when there is growing recognition and action to limit use of chemicals altogether. Studies on carbon nano fibre production (Khanna et al.- 2008) found that their potential to contribute to global warming, ozone layer depletion, environmental or human toxicity may be as much as 100 times greater per unit of weight than those of conventional materials like aluminum, steel and polypropylene.

Ethical concerns

Ethical questions related to nanotechnology are not limited to the ways people might use it to harm others intentionally, but also include obligations to avoid potentially harmful unintended consequences. These are some possible ethical issues and guidelines for nanotechnology:

Nanotechnology’s highest and best use should be to create a world of abundance where no one is lacking for their basic needs, such as adequate food, safe water, a clean environment etc.
High priority must be given to the efficient and economical global distribution of the products and services created by nanotechnology. The need for reasonable return on investment is understandable, but it must be must recognized that our planet is small, and we all depend upon each other for safety, stability, even survival.
Military research and applications of nanotechnology must be limited to defense and security systems, and not for political purposes or aggression. And any government-funded research that generates useful nonmilitary technological advances must be made available to the public.
Scientists developing and experimenting with nanotechnology must have a solid grounding in ecology and public safety or have someone on their team who does. Scientists and their organizations must also be held accountable for the willful, fraudulent or irresponsible misuse of the
All published research and discussion of nanotechnology should be accurate as possible, adhere to the scientific method, and give due credit to sources.
Labeling of products should be clear and accurate, and promotion of services, including consulting, should disclose any conflicts of interest.
Business models in the field should incorporate long term, sustainable practices, such as the efficient use of resources, recycling of toxic materials, adequate compensation for workers and other fair labour Their use as undetectable weapon in warfare, and the incorporation of nano-devices as performance enhancers in human beings is a possibility, regulations should prohibit such wrong usage of technology.

Social and Legal concerns

Issues such as creating a gap in the society (‘nano-divide’), privacy, university/industry relationships and potential conflicts of interest, patents, research ethics etc., can lead to social and legal concerns in this field.

Nano-divide – The potential for nanotechnologies to increase the gap between the rich and the poor countries and reinforce global inequalities. As nano-innovation becomes more and more pervasive, developing nations will be left behind, creating an even bigger gap. Clean drinking water is a basic need. If nano-based water filtration systems can help meet this need they must be provided to those who need them. Inaccessibility due to unaffordability would cause injustice.

Nanotechnology is likely to produce smaller and cheaper electronic equipment. This will make electronics affordable to low-income families. The notion of ‘ubiquitous computing’ with all the benefits it promises becomes much easier to develop with nano-based processors and memory

The proliferation of powerful computers, however, will make it even easier to compile and process databases of personal information. Current privacy regulations may serve to regulate the large databases maintained by credit companies and consumer manufacturing companies, although even this claim is questioned.

What happens when, for example, any individual can use a tiny video camera to record people passing into a particular store, face-recognition software to identify those people, publicly-available databases to find those people’s addresses and personal data, and then create marketing pitches based on the stores they have entered? Who will control access to information?

Legal issues with respect to patent applications and classification will pose another challenge. Lack of a standardized definition of nanomaterials is one cause for this. Also, the inherently multidisciplinary nature of nanotechnology presents significant challenge in proper evaluation of patent applications and in granting the patents. Risk of overlooking relevant prior work and inaccurately assessing an invention’s novelty can be caused by lack of experts with knowledge in variety of areas associated with this field.

“Labeling” of products is another cause of concern. Given the health and environmental risks associated with nanomaterials, some countries made it mandatory that ingredients present in the form of nanomaterials shall be clearly indicated in the list of ingredients and specify “nano”.

Nanotechnology initiatives in India

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has taken several major initiatives for the promotion of Nanoelectronics research and innovation in the country. Major Nanoelectronics Centres of international standards have been established at premier institutes in the country.

The state-of-the-art nanofabrication facilities at these Centres have become very popular both in India and abroad. Also, the Indian Nanoelectronics Users Programme (INUP) initiated by MeitY is being implemented at Centre of Excellence in Nanoelectronics (CEN) at IISc and IIT Bombay provided a great opportunity for R&D community all over the country for accessing state of the art nanofabrication facilities for undertaking research and skill development in Nanoelectronics.

About 400 researchers are being imparted hands-on training in Nanofabrication at these centres every year. The research activities have so far resulted in many research publications and significant number of innovations for which patents have been filed.

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative & Nanomission-2007

The National Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative (NSTI) was launched in October 2001 under the aegis of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science. The motive of launching NSTI in 2001 was to create research infrastructure and promote basic research in nanoscience and nanotechnology. It focused on various issues relating to infrastructure development, basic research and application-oriented programs in nanomaterial including drugs/drug delivery/gene targeting and DNA chips.

The Government of India, in May 2007, has approved the launch of a Mission on Nano Science and Technology (Nano Mission) with an allocation of Rs. 1000 crore for 5 years. The Department of Science and Technology is the nodal agency for implementing the Nano Mission. At the apex level, it is steered by a Nano Mission Council (NMC), chaired by Professor CNR Rao.

The Nano Mission is an umbrella programme for capacity building which envisages the overall development of this field of research in the country and to tap some of its applied potential for nation’s development. In brief, the objectives of the Nano-Mission are:

Basic Research Promotion – Funding of basic research by individual scientists and/or groups of scientists and creation of centres of excellence for pursuing studies leading to fundamental understanding of matter that enables control and manipulation at the nanoscale.

Infrastructure Development for Nano Science & Technology Research – Investigations on the nano scale require expensive equipment like Optical Tweezer, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) etc. For optimal use of expensive and sophisticated facilities, it is proposed to establish a chain of shared facilities across the country.

Nano Applications and Technology Development Programmes- To catalyze Applications and Technology Development Programmes leading to products and devices, the Mission proposes to promote application- oriented R&D Projects, establish Nano Applications and Technology Development Centres, Nano-Technology Business Incubators etc. Special effort will be made to involve the industrial sector into nanotechnology R&D directly or through Public Private Partnership (PPP) ventures.

Human Resource Development – The Mission shall focus on providing effective education and training to researchers and professionals in diversified fields so that a genuine interdisciplinary culture for nanoscale science, engineering and technology can emerge. It is planned to launch M.Sc./M.Tech. programmes, create national and overseas post-doctoral fellowships, chairs in universities, etc.

International Collaborations – Apart from exploratory visits of scientists, organization of joint workshops and conferences and joint research projects, it is also planned to facilitate access to sophisticated research facilities abroad, establish joint centres of excellence and forge academiaindustry partnerships at the international level wherever required and desirable.

Recognizing the success of Nano Mission, the Union Cabinet accorded approval for continuation of the Nano Mission in its Phase-II during the 12th Plan period (2012-17) with an allocation of Rs. 650 crores.

Recent steps taken by Indian government

Realizing the emerging importance of safe handling of Nanomaterials, the Nano Mission of Govt. of India constituted a “Nano regulatory Task Force” consisting of eminent experts to bring out a comprehensive document on “Guidelines and Best Practices for Safe Handling of Nanomaterials in Research Laboratories and Industries”.

Department of Biotechnology unveiled the draft ‘guidelines for evaluation of nano-agri input and nanoagriproducts’ in 2020. This is to ensure high benefit and low-risk ratio of agri products containing nano particles.

India released technical guidelines (DBT/ICMR/CDSCO) in October 2019 to evaluate nanopharmaceuticals for regulatory approvals in the country and to ensure the safety. It mandates the companies to disclose size of the nanomaterials used in the product, details of the methods used in their production, and impact of waste disposal on environment.

CHAPTER 3: NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY

Nuclear reactions

Nuclear Fission

It is the process by which a heavy atomic nucleus splits into two or more lighter nuclei. It releases large amounts of energy. This is the process currently employed in nuclear reactors to generate power and also used in atomic bombs.

Example:

The induced fission of ²³⁵U isotope releases an average of 200 MeV per atom, or 80 million kilojoules per gram of ²³⁵U.

Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fusion is the process where two lighter nuclei combine to form a heavy nucleus. Fusion requires high temperature and high pressure to occur and releases enormous amount of energy. It is the process that powers the Sun and stars and is used in hydrogen bomb, which is more destructive than atomic bomb.

Fusion takes place when two low-mass isotopes, typically isotopes of hydrogen, unite under conditions of extreme pressure and temperature.

Atoms of Tritium and Deuterium (isotopes of hydrogen, 1H³ and 1H², respectively) unite to produce a neutron and a helium isotope. Along with this, an enormous amount of energy is released, which is several times the amount produced from fission.

Fissile material

Terms

Fissile materials are a subset of fissionable materials. These are isotopes that are capable of undergoing nuclear fission only by a thermal neutron. ²³⁸U is not fissile isotope, because ²³⁸U cannot be fissioned by thermal neutron.

²³⁸U is not capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction, because neutrons produced by fission of ²³⁸U

have lower energies than original neutron (usually below the threshold energy of 1 MeV). Examples of fissile materials: ²³⁵U, ²³³U, and ²³⁹Pu

Fertile material

They consist of isotopes that are not fissionable by thermal neutrons, but can be converted into fissile isotopes (after neutron absorption and subsequent nuclear decay).

Examples of fertile materials: ²³⁸U and ²³²Th.

Chain reaction

These are series of nuclear fissions, each initiated by a neutron produced in a preceding fission. 2.5 neutrons on the average are released by the fission of each uranium-235 nucleus that absorbs a low-energy neutron.

Criticality

Criticality means that a reactor is controlling a sustained fission chain reaction, where each fission event releases a sufficient number of neutrons to maintain an ongoing series of reactions. This is the normal state of nuclear power generation.

Nuclear Fission Vs Fusion

Nuclear reactors

Currently nuclear reactors generate energy through fission. During fission, a small amount of mass is converted into energy, which can be used to power a generator to create electricity. To harness

this energy, a controlled “chain reaction” is required for fission to take place. In a chain reaction, when a uranium nucleus splits, it produces two or more neutrons which can then be used to split more uranium nuclei, resulting in series of fission reactions.

Components of a nuclear reactor

Fuel: Reactor core, the center of the reactor contains the fuel. Uranium is most commonly used as fuel. Usually pellets of uranium oxide (UO2) are arranged in tubes to form fuel rods. The rods are arranged into fuel assemblies in the reactor core. Plutonium and thorium can also be used as fuels.

Moderator: Material in the core which slows down the neutrons released from fission to increase their interaction with uranium nuclei to cause more fission. Usually water, heavy water or graphite is used as a moderator.

Coolant: A fluid circulating through the core to transfer the heat from it to run the turbines. In light water reactors the water moderator functions also as primary coolant.

Control rods: These are made with neutron-absorbing material such as cadmium or boron, and are inserted or withdrawn from the core to control the rate of reaction, or to stop it.

Containment: The structure around the reactor and associated steam generators which is designed to protect it from outside intrusion and to protect those outside from the effects of radiation in case of any serious malfunction inside. It is typically a meter-thick or more concrete and steel structure.

Nuclear reactors – types

Light water reactors (LWR)

Based on the method used for extracting energy from the core of the reactor, there are two primary types of reactors.

Boiling – Water Reactor (BWR)

In a boiling water reactor, water in pipes circulates inside the core. The water gets heated, generates steam which is then used to drive turbines. As the water enters the core, there is a possibility of its becoming radioactive. Further, in case of a rupture of the pipe due to extreme heat, it could lead to accidents.

Pressurized – Water Reactor (PWR)

As the name implies, the water in the reactor is pressurized. This is due to the fact that as the pressure gets higher, the boiling point of water increases with it. This means that at high pressures the water can operate at extremely high temperatures without boiling to steam. This is important for the reactor as higher pressures allow for greater power output and higher thermal efficiency.

In these reactors water is extracted in two steps. The primary coolant, as in the case of BWR circulates inside the core. However, the water circulates under great pressure so that it does not become steam. The heat is transferred through a heat exchanger to a secondary coolant, which may be used to drive a turbine. As the secondary coolant does not enter the core, it does not become radioactive. PWRs use ordinary water as both coolant and moderator.

Pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR)

The pressurized heavy water reactor utilizes natural uranium as the fuel and heavy water as both moderator and coolant. The use of heavy water as moderator facilitates the use of natural uranium as the fuel. The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure, allowing it to be heated to higher temperatures without boiling, much as in a typical pressurized water reactor. While heavy water is significantly more expensive than ordinary light water, it yields greatly enhanced neutron economy, allowing the reactor to operate without fuel enrichment facilities (mitigating the additional capital cost of the heavy water) and generally enhancing the ability of the reactor to efficiently make use of alternate fuel cycles.

The PHWR technology in India started in the late 1960s with the construction of the first 220 Mwe reactor, Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, RAPS-1 with a design similar with that of the “Douglas Point reactor” in Canada under the joint Indo-Canadian nuclear co-operation. Canada supplied all main equipment for this first unit. India retained responsibility for construction, installation and commissioning activities. Gradually, India made indigenized the process of design.

Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR)

The term “breeder” refers to reactors those produce more fissionable fuel than they consume, while generating energy using fast neutrons (i.e. more fissionable Pu-239 is produced from non-fissionable uranium-238). These reactors use weak moderator such as liquid sodium as coolant, hence neutrons are not slowed down. These fast neutrons are not as good at causing fission, they are readily captured by an isotope of uranium (U238), which then becomes plutonium (Pu239), either in the fuel or in a breeder blanket surrounding the core.

Conventional reactors use uranium as fuel and produce some plutonium. Breeders produce much more plutonium, which can be separated and reused as fuel. This plutonium isotope can be reprocessed and used as more reactor fuel or in the production of nuclear weapons.

The design of FBR in India was partly obtained from France, the construction was essentially an indigenous effort made by India.

List of common components used in selected Nuclear Reactors

Reactor	Fuel	Coolant	Moderator
Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)	Enriched Uranium	Water	Water
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)	Enriched Uranium	Water	Water
Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR)	Natural Uranium	Heavy Water	Heavy Water
Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR)	Plutonium or Uranium	Liquid Sodium	None

Organization structure

India’s atomic energy programme

The atomic energy programme in India was launched around the time of independence under the leadership of Homi J. Bhabha (1909-1966). An early historic achievement was the design and construction of the first nuclear reactor in India (named Apsara) which went critical on August 4, 1956. It used enriched uranium as fuel and water as moderator. Following this was another notable landmark: the construction of CIRUS (Canada India Research U.S.) reactor in 1960. This 40 MW reactor used natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator. Apsara and CIRUS spurred research in a wide range of areas of basic and applied nuclear science.

An important milestone in the first two decades of the programme was the indigenous design and construction of the plutonium plant at Trombay, which ushered in the technology of fuel reprocessing (separating useful fissile and fertile nuclear materials from the spent fuel of a reactor) in India.

Research reactors that have been subsequently commissioned include ZERLINA, PURNIMA (I, II and III), DHRUVA and KAMINI. KAMINI is the country’s first large research reactor that uses U-233 as fuel. As the name suggests, the primary objective of a research reactor is not generation of power but to provide a facility for research on different aspects of nuclear science and technology. Research reactors are also an excellent source for production of a variety of radioactive isotopes that find application in diverse fields: industry, medicine and agriculture.

The main objectives of the Indian Atomic Energy programme are to provide safe and reliable electric power for the country’s social and economic progress and to be self-reliant in all aspects of nuclear technology.

Exploration of atomic minerals in India undertaken since the early fifties has indicated that India has limited reserves of uranium, but fairly abundant reserves of thorium. Accordingly, our country has adopted a three- stage strategy of nuclear power generation. The first stage involves the use of natural uranium as a fuel, with heavy water as moderator.

The Plutonium-239 obtained from reprocessing of the discharged fuel from the reactors then serves as a fuel for the second stage — the fast breeder reactors. They are so called because they use fast neutrons for sustaining the chain reaction (hence no moderator is needed) and, besides generating power, also breed more fissile species (plutonium) than they consume. The third stage, most significant in the long term, involves using fast breeder reactors to produce fissile Uranium-233 from Thorium-232 and to build power reactors based on them. India is currently well into the second stage of the programme and considerable work has also been done on the third — the thorium utilisation — stage.

The country has mastered the complex technologies of mineral exploration and mining, fuel fabrication, heavy water production, reactor design, construction and operation, fuel reprocessing, etc. Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) built at different sites in the country mark the accomplishment of the first stage of the programme. India is now more than self- sufficient in heavy water production. Elaborate safety measures both in the design and operation of reactors, as also adhering to stringent standards of radiological protection are the hallmark of the Indian Atomic Energy Programme.

India has current installed nuclear power capacity of 6780 MW from 22 operational plants. It is expected to increase to 22,480 MW by 2031. This in turn is going to assist the country in meeting zero energy targets along with other clean energy sources.

Advantages of Nuclear energy

Reliability – Nuclear Power is a highly reliable form of energy almost as good as other fossil fuel energy forms like coal, gas Nuclear Power Plants except in drastic situations continue to run reliably for the whole day without any changes.
Low Fuel Cost – Large amounts of Nuclear Energy can be produced from the fission of radioactive elements like The costs of nuclear fuel is relatively very low compared to other energy sources like coal and gas.
Long term usage –Nuclear Plants also have long lives of between 40-60 years which means that they are extremely profitable once constructed within reasonable
No Greenhouse Gas Emissions/Air Pollution – Nuclear electricity does not produce any greenhouse gas emissions or cause air pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels unlike coal, oil or gas. This makes them very attractive as a source of cheap, non-carbon dioxide producing electricity.
Huge Potential –Nuclear Energy Potential is almost infinite compared to the limited and peak features of other forms of energy like wind, geothermal, oil, gas and others. Only Solar Energy can be said to have more Important to note that new technologies and fuels like fast breeder and thorium are still in the works which can increase the potential of Nuclear Power in future.

Issues and challenges with Nuclear energy

Nuclear technology suffers from following problems;

Cost – Establishments of nuclear power plants is an expensive
Safety issues – If nuclear energy is not generated adhering to the highest standards of safety, there is possibility of catastrophic accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima. These disasters are of concern for all those adopting nuclear power generation.
Nuclear waste Management – Waste produced at various stages of electricity generation is radioactive and therefore must be carefully managed and disposed. Given the long half-lives of some of the radioisotopes the waste may pose long-term risks.
Health – Exposure to radioactive fallout would lead to an increased risk of genetic disorders, developmental issues, cancers etc.
Nuclear material like plutonium can be used to produce highly destructive nuclear
Terror threats – Nuclear installations could also become targets for terrorist
Time for technology development – Given India’s poor uranium reserves, ongoing development of thorium based reactors may take several decades before the technology becomes viable.

However, to stop nuclear power generation for the fear of nuclear accident would be a wrong move and instead they should focus on ensuring the safety of the nuclear power generation.

Nuclear Fusion

Fusion powers the Sun and stars as hydrogen atoms fuse together to form helium, and matter is converted into energy. Hydrogen, heated to very high temperatures changes from a gas to a plasma in which the negatively- charged electrons are separated from the positively-charged atomic nuclei (ions). Normally, fusion is not possible because the strongly repulsive electrostatic forces between the positively charged nuclei prevent them from getting close enough together to collide and for fusion to occur. However, if the conditions are such that the nuclei can overcome the electrostatic forces to the extent that they can come within a very close range of each other, then the attractive nuclear force (which binds protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei) between the nuclei will outweigh the repulsive (electrostatic) force, allowing the nuclei to fuse together. Such conditions can occur when the temperature increases, causing the ions to move faster and eventually reach speeds high enough to bring the ions close enough together. The nuclei can then fuse, causing a release of energy.

Tokamak

The tokamak, first developed by Soviet research in the late 1960s, is an experimental machine designed to harness the energy of fusion. Inside a tokamak, the energy produced through the fusion of atoms is absorbed as heat in the walls of the vessel. Just like a conventional power plant, a fusion power plant will use this heat to produce steam and then electricity by way of turbines and generators.

In a tokamak, the plasma has a shape like an inflated tube of a car wheel, enclosed in a magnetic cage. The magnetic fields produced by the coils surrounding the plasma as well as by a current driven in the plasma itself, help in confining the hot plasma away from surrounding material walls. The plasma is heated to fusion relevant temperatures (a few hundred million degrees Kelvin!) by injecting high energy neutral particle beam or radio frequency waves from outside which get absorbed in the plasma.

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)

ITER is an experimental fusion reactor facility under construction in Cadarache, South of France to prove the feasibility of nuclear fusion for future source of energy. Tokamak has been adopted around the world as the most promising configuration of magnetic

fusion device. Due to the cost and complexity of the devices involved in fusion reactors, international co- operation became necessary. ITER partners are the European Union, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States of America. European Union being the host party contributes 45% while the rest of the parties contribute 9% each. Most of these contributions are through ‘in-kind’ procurement of ITER components. ITER will be the world’s largest tokamak— twice the size of the largest machine currently in operation, with ten times the plasma chamber volume.

India formally joined the ITER Project in 2005 and the ITER Agreement between the partners was signed in 2006. ITER Organization (IO) is the central team responsible for construction at site and operation, while the ITER partners created their own domestic agencies to deliver their commitments to ITER. ITER-India is the Indian domestic agency. Gujarat based “Institute for Plasma Research” (a DAE institute) is playing the key role in this project. India’s is responsible for delivery of several ITER packages, including Outer vacuum shell (cryostat), Cryogenic systems, In-wall shielding, cooling water system, Radiofrequency driven heating systems etc.

The assembly of the reactor had begun in 2020 and is expected to be completed in 2025, initial plasma experiments will begin then.

India’s Nuclear Policy

A national nuclear doctrine represents, the collective set of beliefs or principles held by the nation with regard to the utility of its nuclear weapons. Post 1998 nuclear test, India came up with a comprehensive nuclear doctrine to clear doubts and misunderstandings prevailing around world regarding India’s Nuclear weapon policy.

The Cabinet Committee on Security enunciated the details in 2003. By charting out a clear and principled nuclear policy, India has not only clarified its stand (both nationally and internationally) but also has earned valuable global support and credibility by diligently following the restraints.

Main Features

Building and maintaining a credible minimum
A “No First Use” posture; nuclear weapons to be used only “in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or on Indian forces anywhere”.
Nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be “massive” and designed to inflict “unacceptable damage”.
Nuclear retaliatory attacks to be authorized only by civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command
Non use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon
Continuance of strict controls on export of nuclear and missile related materials and technologies, participation in FMCT negotiations, continued moratorium on
India to retain option of retaliating with nuclear weapons in the event of a major attack against it with biological or chemical weapons.
Continued commitment to goal of nuclear weapon free world, through global, verifiable and non- discriminatory

Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG)

The Nuclear Suppliers’ Group is a 48-nation body, which monitors and controls the export of materials or technology that can be used to create nuclear weapons.

Brought in 1974– in response to the Indian nuclear test (smiling Buddha).
It is a Multilateral export control
It is Not a formal organization, and its guidelines are not Decisions, including on membership, are made by consensus.
Membership: 48 supplier states

Admission of new members is done through consensus. India has been attempting formally joining it since over a decade. India received a special waiver in 2008 from NSG to conduct nuclear commerce. Even though India has the backing of the majority of the group’s members, China has been blocking its entry for India not being a signatory of “Non-Proliferation Treaty” (NPT). India.

Benefits to India

Membership will increase India’s access to state-of-the-art technology from the other members of the
Access to technology and being allowed to produce nuclear equipment will give a boost to the Make in India That will, in turn, boost the economic growth of our country.

Treaty on the non-Proliferation of Nuclear weapons (NPT)

Opened for signature in 1968, the treaty entered into force in 1970 (monitored by IAEA).
The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967 (Incl USA, Russia, UK, China)
Non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT nuclear- weapon states in exchange agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology.
A biased legal instrument that divided the world into “nuclear haves” and “nuclear have- ”
India had a need to demonstrate nuclear weapon capability (1974 & 1998) to its problematic
Non-signatory of NPT is preventing India from entering

CHAPTER 4: SPACE TECHNOLOGY

Indian Space research organization (ISRO) of India works with a vision of “harnessing space technology for national development, while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration”.

Brief History of Space research in India

1957: First artificial satellite Russian Sputnik 1 launched.

1958: Explorer 1, first US satellite launched.

1962: Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) formed by the Department of Atomic Energy under the leadership of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

1963: First sounding rocket launched from TERLS – beginning of modern rocket based research in India

1969: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) formed under Department of Atomic Energy.

1972: Department of Space (DoS) established and ISRO brought under it.

1975: First Indian satellite, Aryabhata, launched into space April 19. It was completely designed in the country and launched from a Russian facility.

1979: Bhaskara-I, an experimental remote sensing satellite for earth observations, launched from Russia into LEO.

1993: PSLV carried out its first mission, became the Indian space mission’s most reliable workhorse.

2003: First successful launch by GSLV, that placed GSAT-2 in a geosynchronous orbit. (First demonstrator flight in 2001 failed to place GSAT-1) .

2019: Launch of Chandrayaan -2 mission by GSLV-Mk III and an attempt to soft land on south pole of the Moon.

Satellite orbits

Low Earth Orbit (LEO): LEO is typically a circular orbit anywhere between 160 km – 2000km above the earth’s surface and, correspondingly, has a much shorter orbital period of about 90 minutes. In general, these orbits are used for remote sensing, military purposes and for human spaceflight as they offer close proximity to the Earth’s surface for imaging and the short orbital periods allow for rapid revisits. The International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope are in LEO.

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): MEO is the region of space around the Earth above low Earth orbit and below geostationary orbit. The most common use for satellites in this region is for navigation, such as the GPS. Communications satellites that cover the North and South Pole are also put in MEO. The orbital periods of MEO satellites range from about 2 to 24 hours.

Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO): A geosynchronous orbit is a high Earth orbit that allows satellites to match Earth’s rotation. It is located at roughly 36,000 kilometers above Earth’s equator and takes about 24 hours to orbit once. While geosynchronous satellites can have any inclination, an orbit that lie on the same plane as the equator is called “geostationary orbit”. A satellite in geostationary orbit appears stationary with respect to Earth given its position on equator and rotational matching with the Earth. As satellites in geostationary orbit continuously cover a large portion of the Earth, this makes it an ideal orbit for telecommunications or for monitoring continent-wide weather patterns and environmental conditions. A constellation of three equally spaced satellites can provide full coverage of the Earth, except for the polar regions.

Polar Orbit: In a polar orbit, the satellite generally flies at a low altitude (600-800 km) and passes over the planet’s poles on each revolution. The polar orbit remains fixed in space as Earth rotates inside the orbit. As a result, much of Earth passes under a satellite in a polar orbit. Because polar orbits achieve excellent coverage of the planet, they are often used for satellites that do mapping and photography.

Sun synchronous orbit: These are polar orbits which are synchronous with the Sun. A satellite in a sun synchronous orbit would usually be at an altitude of between 600 to 800 km. Generally, these orbits are used for Earth observation, solar study, weather forecasting and reconnaissance, as ground observation is improved if the surface is always illuminated by the Sun at the same angle when viewed from the satellite.

Launch Vehicles

Launchers or Launch Vehicles are used to carry spacecraft to space.

Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) was India’s first experimental satellite launch vehicle, which was an all solid, four stage vehicle weighing 17 tonnes with a height of 22m and capable of placing 40 kg class payloads in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

While building upon the experience gained from the SLV-3 missions, ISRO developed the “Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle” (ASLV), designed to augment the payload capacity to 150 kg for Low Earth Orbits (LEO). It is a five stage, all-solid propellant vehicle.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages. It is a four-staged launch vehicle with first and third stage using solid rocket motors and second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines. It also uses strap-on motors to augment the thrust provided by the first stage, and depending on the number of these strap-on boosters, the PSLV is classified into its various versions like core-alone version (PSLV-CA) with no strap-on boosters, PSLV-G with six strap-on boosters, and PSLV-XL variant with more powerful stretched strap-on boosters.

PSLV is designed mainly to deliver the “remote-sensing” satellites with lift-off mass of up to about 1750 Kg to Sun-Synchronous circular polar orbits. After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV emerged as the reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India by launching the satellites of lower lift-off mass of up to about 1400 Kg to GEO transfer orbit (GTO). Besides, the vehicle successfully launched two spacecrafts – Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft.

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is the fourth generation launch vehicle developed by India. Initially Russian supplied cryogenic stages were used. Later cryogenic stage was indigenously developed and inducted in Jan 2014 from GSLV D5 onwards.

Two versions of the GSLV are being developed by ISRO. The first version, GSLV Mk-II, has the capability to launch satellites of lift-off mass of up to 2,500 kg to the GTO and satellites of up to 5,000 kg lift-off mass to the LEO. GSLV MK-II is a three-staged vehicle with first stage using solid rocket motor, second stage using Liquid fuel and the third stage, called Cryogenic Upper Stage, using cryogenic engine.

GSLV Mk III is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strapons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic upper stage. It is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to LEO, which is about twice the capability of GSLV Mk II.

ISRO is also working on a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) is to achieve low cost, reliable and on-demand space access. RLV-TD (technology demonstration) was successfully flight tested in 2016 from Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) validating the critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management.

Organizational Structure of ISRO

1. Communication Satellites:

The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in Asia-Pacific region with nine operational communication satellites placed in Geo-stationary orbit. Established in 1983 with commissioning of INSAT-1B, it initiated a major revolution in India’s communications sector and sustained the same later. GSAT (Geosynchronous satellites) series of satellites joins the constellation of INSAT System consisting over 15 operational satellites. Important initiatives pursued by ISRO towards societal development include Tele-education, Tele-medicine, Village Resource Centre (VRC) and Disaster Management System (DMS) Programmes.

2. Earth observatory satellites or Remote Sensing Satellites:

Starting with IRS-1A in 1988, ISRO has launched many operational remote sensing satellites. Today, India has one of the largest constellations of remote sensing satellites in operation. Varieties of instruments have been flown onboard these satellites to provide necessary data in a diversified spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions to cater to different user requirements in the country and for global usage.

The data from these satellites are used for several applications covering agriculture, water resources, urban planning, rural development, mineral prospecting, environment, forestry, ocean resources, cartography, and disaster management. Apart from meeting the general requirements, definition of IRS missions based on specific thematic applications like natural resources monitoring, ocean and atmospheric studies and cartographic applications resulted in the realisation of theme based satellite series, namely,

Land/water resources applications (RESOURCESAT series and RISAT series);
Ocean/atmospheric studies (OCEANSAT series, INSAT-VHRR, INSAT-3D, Megha- Tropiques and SARAL); and
Large scale mapping applications (CARTOSAT series).

3. Navigation Satellites:

Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), independent Indian Satellite based positioning system for critical national applications. Objective is to provide Reliable Position, Navigation and Timing services over India and its neighbourhood, to provide fairly good accuracy to the users. To date, ISRO has built a total of nine satellites in the IRNSS series; of which eight are currently in orbit.

Three of these satellites are in geostationary orbit while the remaining in geosynchronous orbits. The IRNSS constellation is known as “NavIC” (Navigation with Indian Constellation). To meet the Civil Aviation requirements, ISRO is working jointly with Airport Authority of India (AAI) in establishing the “GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation” (GAGAN) system.

GAGAN

Developed by ISRO and Airports Authority of India (AAI).
To establish, deploy and certify satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) for civil aviation
Improve the quality provided by GNSS – replace ground-based navigation systems – more efficient use of available
GAGAN GEO footprint extends from Africa to Australia and has expansion capability for seamless navigation services across the region.
GAGAN Payload is already operational through GSAT-8, GSAT-10, and GSAT 15

Uses

Primarily meant for aviation
the additional accuracy, availability, and integrity necessary for all phases of flight, from enroute through approach for all qualified airports within the GAGAN service
other user segments such as intelligent transportation, maritime, highways, railways, surveying, telecom industry

Besides, the above discussed major satellites, ISRO has launched satellites for space exploration and several satellites for student and experimental purposes.

Applications of Space Technology

Civilian Applications

About 1400 Satellite Earth Stations of different size are operating in satellite network of Government users, closed user group, commercial users and broadcasters. Telecom services are being provided to remote and inland through satellite media in C-band and Ku-band from main earth stations as backhaul point to point connections. Satellites also provide GSM connectivity, ATM/Banking connectivity through around 20,000 IPSTAR VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminals) as well as one by two voice channel connectivity to remote areas through around 6,000 Digital Satellite Phone Terminal (DSPTs).

Further, in the past four decades, the Indian Remote Sensing satellite system grown as a major tool for collecting information on almost every aspect on the earth. It has found applications in diverse fields, ranging from agriculture to urban planning. In recent times the system has contributed significantly towards general development of the nation.

Many of the applications discussed below are made possible through satellites.

Education

‘EDUSAT’(GSAT-3), India’s first thematic satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services, was launched on 20th April, 2004. It was used extensively to cater to a wide range of interactive educational delivery modes like one-way TV broadcast, video conferencing, computer conferencing, web-based instructions, etc.

The objective is to supplement the curriculum-based teaching, imparting effective teacher training, providing access to quality resource persons and new technologies, thus finally resulting in taking education to every nook and corner of India.

EDUSAT provides connectivity to schools, colleges and higher levels of education and also supported non- formal education including development communication. About 15 million students benefit through EDUSAT programme every year.

The tele-education networks established by ISRO also include the networks set up for users with special requirements such as: Blind People’s Association (BPA) of Gujarat – for Visually challenged; Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI); Central Institute of Mentally Retarded (CIMR) in Kerala; C-DAC for Mentally challenged in Kerala

Tele medicine

Telemedicine is one of the unique applications of Space Technology for societal benefit. ISRO Telemedicine programme started in 2001 has been connecting remote/rural/medical college hospitals and Mobile Units through the Indian satellites (INSAT) to major specialty hospitals in cities and towns.

ISRO Telemedicine network covers various states/regions including Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands, North Eastern States and other mainland states. Many tribal districts of Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. It covers about 384 hospitals with 60 specialty hospitals connected to 306 remote/rural/district/medical college hospitals and 18 Mobile Telemedicine units.

The Mobile Telemedicine units cover diverse areas of Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Radiology, Diabetology, Mammography, General medicine, Women and Child healthcare.

In a major effort to improve emergency medical support to soldiers posted in high-altitude areas, especially Siachen, the Integrated Defence Staff of the Defence Ministry and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a memorandum of understanding in August 2018 to set up telemedicine nodes in critical places across the country.

Agriculture

Information on crop statistics is required for planning and decision making purposes, such as, distribution and storage of food grains, Government policies, pricing, procurement and food security and so on. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) effectively uses contemporary techniques of satellite remote sensing in such decision making. Remote sensing data provides many advantages over conventional methods, particularly in terms of timely decision making mechanisms, spatial depiction and coverage including cost effectiveness. Space data is used in addressing in many critical aspects, such as, crop area estimation, crop yield & production estimation, crop condition, deriving basic soil information, cropping system studies, experimental crop insurance, etc.

Crop production forecasts using satellite remote sensing data has been conceptualized by ISRO in early eighties. This led to the success of CAPE (Crop Acreage and Production Estimation) project that was done with active participation of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, towards forecasting of production of crops in selected regions. In order to enhance the scope of this project, the FASAL (Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land based Observations) programme was conceptualized, by developing methodology for multiple in-season forecasts of crops at national scale.

A Centre named “Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre” (MNCFC) was established by MoA&FW in New Delhi in April 2012, which operationally uses space-based observations, at national level, for pre-harvest multiple crop production forecasts of nine field crops. Crops covered are wheat, rice, jute, mustard, cotton, sugarcane, rabi & kharif rice and rabi sorghum. Remote Sensing based acreage and yield forecasts based on weather parameters or spectral indices are used to provide production forecasts. The center is also actively involved in national level assessment of Horticultural crops and their coverage across the agro-climatic regions in the country.

Cropping System Analysis

A cropping system is defined as the cropping pattern and its management to derive benefits from a given resource base under a specific environmental condition. Satellite data provides vital information for cropping system analysis, which includes crop area, cropping pattern, crop rotation, crop calendar, crop vigour, soil type, etc. The cropping patterns of kharif, Rabi and summer season are combined to generate crop rotation (sequence in which crops are grown in the same field during an agricultural year). The cropping patterns and crop rotation maps are utilized to assess the crop diversity (number of crops occupying a particular area) and cropping intensity (number of crops grown in succession in a year in a single field) over study sites of Indo-Gangetic plains.

National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System

The remote sensing based techniques for drought assessment of crops has been developed by ISRO and operationalised to Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Center (MNCFC) which carries out this activity regularly. The inputs used are rainfall data, dry spell and crop Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI).

A comparison of these conditions is made with respect to normal and previous years as one of the assessment parameters, in addition to many other indicators.

Horticulture

Considering the importance of horticulture towards food & nutrient security including its export potential and economic benefits, a programme called ‘Coordinated programme on Horticulture Assessment & Management using geoiNformatics (CHAMAN)’ was launched in September 2014 by MoA&FW. Components of CHAMAN were

Crop Inventory: 7 Major horticultural crops in selected districts of major states (185 districts in 12 states)
Development and Management Planning: Post-Harvest Infrastructure, Aqua-horticulture, Orchard rejuvenation, Crop Intensification, GIS (Geographic information system) Database creation, site suitability
R&D: Crop identification, yield modelling and disease assessment, precision farming, new techniques and

Rural Development

There are several initiatives / projects, which are being taken up by State and Central Government departments at micro and macro level to enrich the assets required in rural sector for the sustainable development through growth of agriculture like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), and On Farm Water Management (OFWM), National Health Resource Repository (NHRR) Project, Rural connectivity, which uses the latest remote sensing and GIS technologies in operational modes.

Rural health sanitation improvement programmes are also playing major role in sustainable development. Several projects are being executed for supporting Ministry of Rural Development and are useful for governance.

GeoMGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)

Under this, assets are created across the country related to water harvesting, drought relief, flood control activities, sanitation. Satellite derived Location based services are being utilized for planning and monitoring of nearly 2 million assets annually through the use of mobile-based geo-tagging. Geospatial tools have been integrated into the value chain for Project Management and Planning.

Assessment of Irrigation Potential under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme

High-resolution satellite data is used for assessing the irrigation potential created through mapping of irrigation infrastructure consisting of canal networks, cross drainage, and other irrigation structures. At the instance of the Planning Commission, the Central Water Commission (CWC) decided to take up all Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme(AIBP) projects (-150) using Cartosat-I data in a phased manner during the I1thFive Year Plan period.

Monitoring Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)

Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) creates wide network of farm ponds, check dams and other soil conservation measures apart from supporting many other natural resource management actions. Web based monitoring and evaluation of 108 watershed projects is implemented in Gujarat (28), Rajasthan(31), Madhya Pradesh (13) and Telangana(36). Resourcesat IV and Cartosat series of satellite data is being used for monitoring the watershed related activities on annual basis.

Village Resource Centre

To provide the space based services directly to the rural areas, ISRO/ DOS has launched the Village Resource Centres (VRCs) programme in association with NGOs/ Trusts and state/central agencies. At present, there are

461 VRCs set up in 22 States/Union Territories. The VRC nodes include Expert Centres. Over 6500 programmes have been conducted by the VRCs addressing the areas like, Agriculture/horticulture development; Fisheries development; Livestock development; Water resources; Tele health care; Awareness programmes; Woman’s empowerment; Supplementary education; Computer literacy; Micro credit; Micro finance; Skill development / vocational training for livelihood support etc. So far, over five Lakh people have used VRC services.

Potential Fishery Zone Forecasting

Potential fishing zone (PFZ) forecasts are operationally disseminated to all the maritime states and the two union territories since 1993. An integrated approach to forecasting potential fishing zones based on chlorophyll and sea- surface temperature has been developed, validated, and transferred to Indian National Centre for Coastal and Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) for operational use.

Besides PFZ advisories that only transmit up to 10 – 12 km from the coast, a new system called “GEMINI (GAGAN Enabled Mariners Instrument for Navigation and Information)” has been developed by INCOIS/Airport Authority of India to warn fishermen deep in the sea (Range: 300 nautical miles) fishing during disaster. Messages and alerts will be received from GAGAN to a ‘portable receiver’ through a mobile app using Bluetooth technology.

Urban planning

Various factors such as the rate of population increase, urban sprawl etc. pose the challenge to the urban environment of cities. These change forces policy makers to plan the city in accordance. High resolution satellite data provides a tool by which these changes can be managed and planned for broad expansion of urban environments. The increased spatial accuracy and frequent revisit periods allows planners to construct action scenarios and compile accurate database of spatial environments.

Disaster management

India is prone to many natural disasters like floods, landslides, cyclones, forest fires, earthquakes, drought, etc. Satellites provide synoptic observations of the natural disasters at regular intervals that helps in better planning and management of disasters. In order to better understand the risks due to such disasters, it is necessary to integrate satellite and field based observations and to work towards risk reduction principles. Satellite communication and navigation systems also play an important role in disaster management with improved technological options.

Disaster Management Support (DMS) Programme, comprehensively addresses various aspects of natural disasters in the country, using space based inputs. ISRO disseminates relevant information in interactive geo- spatial domain through various geoportals like “Bhuvan”,” National Database for Emergency Management” and “Meteorological and Oceanographic Satellite Data Archival Centre” (MOSDAC) for the administrators to better understand the impact and for improved decision support.

ISRO provides the satellite based near real time information support to Central Ministries / Departments and State Ministries / Departments; before, during and after major natural disasters. In addition, ISRO also provides capacity building in use of Space technology inputs in Disaster Management Support. ISRO is actively involved with various other countries with regard to disaster management, through international frameworks, such as, International Charter ‘Space & Major Disasters’, Sentinel Asia, UNESCAP and so on.

As part of “Disaster Management Support Programme” (DMSP), “Decision Support Centre” is established at “National Remote Sensing Centre” (NRSC) for monitoring natural disasters viz. flood, cyclone, agricultural drought, landslides, earthquakes and forest fires in near real-time using space and aerial remote sensing based inputs.

National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM) serves as national repository of GIS based database for entire country coupled with set of Decision Support System tools to assist the State / Central Disaster Management Authorities in decision making during emergency situations.

Current activities to support disaster management support are : Near Real Time Flood & Cyclone monitoring & mapping in the country, Flood Hazard/Risk Zonation for Flood prone states, Spatial Flood Early Warning, forest fire alerts, landslide zonation and inventory, agricultural drought studies and Capacity Building and institutionalization is being done to the stake holders.

Military applications of Space Technology

Since the dawn of the space age, outer space has been regarded as the ultimate high ground from which the earth below could be controlled. Military forces have a long association with spaceflight, with modern rockets evolving from missiles developed during World War II. Armed forces rely on space-based assets for reconnaissance (observation), weather tracking, communication, navigation detection, targeting, weapon control, weapon delivery and target damage assessment etc.

Military space systems can gather information about distant battle-fields, transmit it in real time to command centers and inflict damage to targets through remotely controlled weaponry, without putting personnel at risk. ISRO uses over 13 satellites for military applications including Cartosat 1 and 2 series (mapping satellites) and Risat-1 and Risat-2 (Radar Satellites). These satellites, which can be used for surveillance and mapping border areas, are primarily used for keeping an eye on enemies both on land and sea. E.g. 712-kg Cartosat-2 series spacecraft is an advanced remote sensing satellite capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery.

The Navy also uses GSAT-7 for real-time communication among its warships, submarines, aircraft and land systems. ISRO also launched India’s first electronic surveillance satellite, EMISAT on April 1st 2019. Instruments on this satellite will provide location and information of hostile radars placed at the borders. India also demonstrated its capability to destroy enemy (spying) satellites through anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) as part of Shakti mission.

ISRO’s Space Missions (Past & Future)

Chandrayaan-1: India’s first mission to Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota using an updated version of PSLV. India became the fourth country to land a probe on the moon after USA, RUSSIA, and JAPAN. The spacecraft orbited around the Moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon. The spacecraft carried 11 scientific instruments built in India, USA, UK, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria. The satellite made more than 3400 orbits around the moon and the mission was concluded when the communication with the spacecraft was lost on August 29, 2009. Using data from a NASA instrument (Moon Minerology Mapper) aboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, a team of scientists has confirmed there is water ice on the surface of the Moon, the first direct evidence for presence of water on moon.

Mangalyaan or Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM): India’s first venture into the interplanetary space, MOM objectives were to explore and observe Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and the Martian atmosphere. Further, a specific search for methane in the Martian atmosphere will provide information about the possibility or the past existence of life on the planet. It was launched on 5th November, 2013 using PSLV XL variant (C25), and reached Martian orbit in September 2014 after covering ~65 crore kilometers. MOM is credited with many laurels like cost-effectiveness, short period of realization, economical mass-budget (~450 cr), miniaturization of five heterogeneous science payloads etc. Currently, MOM is collecting data using various payloads on board and ISRO launched MOM Announcement of Opportunity (AO) programmes for researchers in the country to use MOM data for R&D. On October 3^rd 2022, ISRO confirmed that MOM mission came to end as it ran out of fuel and solar panels couldn’t recharge because of back to back eclipses.

Chandrayaan-2: ISRO launched second lunar exploration on 22nd July, 2019 after delay in its original expected launch date due to some design requirements. About 4000 kg payloads were launched using GSLV- MK III from second launch at SHAR. There are three key components of Chandrayaan-2 – orbiter, lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyaan)— carrying 13 Indian payloads for mapping terrain and look for minerals, water/ice formations. Significant improvement has been made on scientific payloads compared to Chandrayaan- 1 for deep exploration.

After reaching the 100 km lunar orbit, the Lander housing the Rover was separated from the Orbiter. After a controlled descent, the Lander attempted to soft land on the lunar surface at a specified site but it crash landed on the moon. Had it been successful, it would have made India the fourth country to soft land on the moon and the first country to land on south pole. This region has craters that contain a fossil record of the early Solar System. The mission costed 970 cr (~ 600 for space craft & ~ 370 for GSLV MKIII), cheaper than some science fiction movies made in Hollywood.

Aditya-L1 mission: ISRO’s is also planning to launch a satellite for solar exploration. The project was conceptualized in 2008 and expected to be launched in 2023 by PSLV-XL. This satellite will be inserted in a halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1), which is 1.5 million km from the Earth. A Satellite placed in the L1 of the Sun-Earth system will be stable as combined gravitational forces of the Earth and the Sun equal the centripetal force felt by the satellite and has an advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/ eclipses. The original objective of this mission was to study the solar corona, the outer layers of the Sun, extending to thousands of km above the disc (photosphere).

It has a temperature of more than a million degree Kelvin which is much higher than the solar disc temperature of around 6000K. With additional six payloads to coronagraph, ISRO is planning to conduct studies on Sun’s Photosphere and Chromosphere along with corona in this mission.

Gaganyaan: Indian prime minister Sri Narendra Modi, on 15th August 2018 announced “Gaganyaan mission”, India’s first-ever manned space mission, originally planned to be launched in 2022, but got delayed due to Covid-19 to 2023-24. India could potentially become the fourth country to send a man to space, after the erstwhile USSR, the US and China. Three astronauts will travel in the crew model capsule for seven days during flight in the 400-km orbit from the Earth’s surface. The capsule will orbit the Earth every 90 minutes. The three astronauts can see India from space, while they conduct experiments on microgravity.

The astronauts will take around 16 minutes from take-off to reach the required 400-km orbit height. For its return, the capsule will take 36 minutes, and will land in the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of Gujarat, where the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, waiting on standby, will lift the capsule as soon as it lands on water. Union cabinet approved Rs 10,000 cr budget for the mission.

ISRO has developed important technologies for it, like the re-entry mission capability, crew module configuration, thermal protection system, a crew escape system, and a space suit prototype. It is planning to launch two unmanned test missions (in 2022) before the final manned mission. These two missions will carry a humanoid robot (Vyomamitra) that will react to the environment in its crew capsule in outer space the same way a human would. This would help test the systems on-board to ensure it is compatible for humans to travel in, and there would be no danger.

Recent international moon missions in news:

China’s Moon mission (Chang’e-4)

On January 2^nd, 2019, China has successfully landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, the first ever such attempt and landing.

Previous Moon missions have landed on the Earth-facing side, but this is the first time any craft has landed successfully on the unexplored and rugged far side. It is carrying instruments to analyse the unexplored region’s geology, as well to conduct biological experiments. The area where the probe has landed faces away from Earth, meaning it is free from radio frequencies. As a result, it is not possible for a lunar rover to communicate directly with ground control. To overcome this hurdle, China launched a dedicated satellite (Queqiao) orbiting the moon last year that will be able to relay information from the rover to Earth.

China’s Chang’e-5 mission

It is Chinese National Space Administration’s (CNSA) lunar sample return mission launched using Long March- 5 on November 24th, 2020 and returned samples in December 2020. China became just the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, after the US and the former Soviet Union (1976). The mission carried a lunar orbiter, a lander, and an ascent probe. It collected ~ 1.7 kg of lunar samples – the first to be returned in 44 years. The Chinese mission targeted a high volcanic region called ‘Mons Rümker’ in the northwest of the nearside of the Moon. Samples from this terrain may be about 1.2 or 1.3 billion years old. Lunar material will help scientists understand more about the moon’s origin and formation.

It marks a successful conclusion of China’s current three-step lunar exploration programme of orbiting and landing, and bringing back samples which began in 2004.

China in recent years has emerged as a major space power with manned space missions and landing a rover in the dark side of the moon. It is currently building a space station of its own.

Artemis Mission by NASA

Artemis is the ambitious plan of NASA to send humans to Moon which is the stepping stone of its journey to Mars and then further exploration of deep space. The Artemis program comprises of three missions, the first of which was supposed to be launched on 12th September, 2022 but was postponed. It is planned to have three phases.

Artemis I will send the Space Launch System (SLS), the world’s most powerful rocket into space. It is an uncrewed mission, with human models to test the functioning of the rocket and effects on Human body. The SLS rocket will drop Orion spacecraft into space to travel past the moon and cover 1.3 million miles before ending its 42-day journey back to earth.

Artemis II will be the first crewed flight test of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft around the Moon taking humans to their farthest point yet in space. The mission will pave the way for Artemis III which would finally land humans on the Moon.

Artemis III will make history by landing humans on the Moon for the first time in over five decades. The landing on the Moon, however, is not the final goal, but a mere stepping stone of much more ambitious endeavour, the journey to Mars (new space age).

With this Mission, NASA is planning to establish long-term presence on Moon by setting up a human base camp, a series of nuclear reactors, and a mineral mining operation.

Miscellaneous topics.

Scramjet technology

Nearly 70% of the propellant (fuel-oxidiser combination) carried by today’s launch vehicles consists of oxidiser. So, many countries are working on launch vehicles which can utilise the atmospheric oxygen during their flight through the atmosphere. It will considerably reduce the total propellant required to place a satellite in orbit. “Ramjet” is such an air breathable engine. It operates by combustion of fuel in a stream of air compressed by the forward speed of the aircraft itself, as opposed to a normal jet engine, in which the compressor section (the fan blades) compresses the air.

Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound) and can operate up to speeds of Mach 6. However, the ramjet efficiency starts to drop when the vehicle reaches hypersonic speeds.

A Scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) is a ramjet engine in which the airflow through the engine remains supersonic, or greater than the speed of sound.

The first experimental mission of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine towards the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System was successfully conducted on August 28, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Young Scientist Programme “YUva VIgyani KAryakram” (YUVIKA)

ISRO’s special programme for School Children – in tune with the Government’s vision “Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan”, launched in 2019.
Primary aim: imparting basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the younger ones
Intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of Space activities.
Aimed at creating awareness amongst the youngsters who are the future building blocks of our
The programme was conducted for two weeks duration during summer holidays (second half of May 2019) and included invited talks, experience sharing by the eminent scientists, facility and lab visits, exclusive sessions for discussions with experts, practical and feedback sessions.

UNispace Nanosatellite Assembly & Training by ISRO (UNNATI)

Upon request of United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) – Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) (@ 50th conference in Vienna), ISRO has launched this program in January 2019 with 30 participants from 17 countries. It is a capacity building training programme by ISRO on Nanosatellites development. It was designed by U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) being the lead centre of ISRO for satellite building.

UNNATI consists of two theoretical modules where the participants are taken through basics of satellite technology (module 1) and nanosatellites (module 2). The participants would be introduced to the design aspects of satellites, the various subsystems of a satellite and their functionality, configuration evolution and post-launch mission operations. Hands-on training (module 3) consists of nanosatellite assembly, integration and testing.

Space debris

Space debris is the collection of defunct man-made objects in space — old satellites, spent rocket stages and fragments from disintegration and collisions. It is estimated that there are about half a million pieces of man- made substances orbiting the Earth. These space debris can really be dangerous as they travel at high speeds, which turns even tiny pieces of junk into deadly shrapnel that can damage satellites, space shuttles and even space stations.

According to the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, 1,400 of 19,000 artificial objects currently being tracked in the earth’s orbit are functional satellites. The remaining objects are collectively known as “space debris”. According to an estimate by the European Space Agency, there are over 34,000 pieces of debris in orbit that are larger than 10cm in size, close to a million pieces between 1cm and 10cm, and 128 million pieces of debris less than a centimetre in size.

ISRO is a member of “Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee” (IADC), which makes global efforts to reduce man-made and natural space debris. The primary objective of IADC is to exchange information on space debris among member space agencies, to facilitate opportunities for cooperation in space debris research and identify debris mitigation options. IADC alerts a respective space agency when any satellite of that space agency is in danger due to space debris.”

ISRO also banks on its sophisticated “Multi-Object Tracking Radar” (MOTR), operational since 2015, to track space debris.

In 2019, ISRO initiated ‘Project NETRA’ (NEtwork for space object TRacking and Analysis) – an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites. On 14th December 2020, ISRO inaugurated a dedicated space situational awareness (SSA) Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore.

The project with an estimated to cost ₹400 crore, will give India its own capability in space situational awareness like the other space powers — which is used to ‘predict’ threats from debris to Indian satellites. Under “NETRA”, ISRO is planning to set up several observational facilities: connected radars, telescopes; data processing units and a control Centre. Initial focus seems to be on debris in the Low Earth Orbit, eventually ISRO wants to track the debris in GEO as well.

Recent global efforts to clean up space debris

Global efforts are also in place for monitoring and finding ways to remove space debris. The first-ever satellite to test possible solutions in cleaning up space junk has been deployed by the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2018. It contains a Britain built satellite called “Remove DEBRIS”. This mission will perform innovative Active Debris Removal (ADR) experiments to demonstrate capture and deorbiting experiments using artificial debris targets.

At the end of 2019, European Space Agency has collaborated with the Swiss startup company “ClearSpace”. This mission, known as ClearSpace-1, is expected to launch by 2025 and will pave the way for more debris- removal missions.

As part of “Active Debris Removal/ In-Orbit Servicing – ADRIOS”, Clear Space has been working on the concept to a multi-purpose Space Servicing Vehicle to perform all kinds of complex tasks in space, such as refuelling high-value satellites reaching the end of their lives, adding new equipment to them, or attaching to them to move them to new orbits. The results will be applied to ClearSpace-1. They will build a spacecraft equipped with four robotic arms to capture debris and drag it into Earth’s atmosphere.

Efforts to privatise space activities in the country

Background

Indian industry had a barely three per cent share in a rapidly growing global space economy which is worth at least $360 billion. Only two per cent of this market was for rocket and satellite launch services, which require fairly large infrastructure and heavy investment. The remaining 95 per cent related to satellite-based services, and ground-based systems.

Indian industry, however, is unable to compete, because its role has been mainly that of suppliers of components and sub-systems. Indian industries do not have the resources or the technology to undertake independent space projects of the kind that US companies such as SpaceX have been doing, or provide space-based services.

Benefits to ISRO

The demand for space-based applications and services is growing within India as well, and ISRO is unable to cater to this. The need for satellite data, imageries and space technology now cuts across sectors, from weather to agriculture to transport to urban development, and more. As per ISRO’s chairman, ISRO would have to be expanded 10 times the current level to meet all the demand that is arising.

The private industry will also free up ISRO to concentrate on science, research and development, interplanetary exploration and strategic launches. Right now, too much of ISRO’s resources is consumed by routine activities that delay its more strategic objectives.

There is no reason why ISRO alone should be launching weather or communication satellites. The world over, an increasing number of private players are taking over this activity for commercial benefits. ISRO, like NASA, is essentially a scientific organisation whose main objective is exploration of space and carrying out scientific missions. There are a number of ambitious space missions lined up in the coming years, including a mission to observe the Sun, a mission to the Moon, a human spaceflight, and then, possibly, a human landing on the Moon.

Steps taken by the government

Department of Space announced Cabinet approval on reforms to boost private participation on 24 June, 2020. It announced the establishment of a new autonomous body – Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) that will take “decisions to regulate and permit activities in the space sector – a facilitator, and also a regulator. Private companies can now produce their own satellites and rockets and use ISRO’s launch facility to launch them for a fee. A large part of manufacturing and fabrication of rockets and satellites has also begun in the private sector through New Space India Limited (NSIL)

New Space India Limited (NSIL)

In March, 2019, the Union Government has set up NSIL, a wholly-owned Government of India undertaking/ Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS) Objectives

To commercially exploit the research and development work of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Centres and constituent units of DOS.
The emergence of NSIL would spur the growth of Indian industries in the space sector and enable Indian industries to scale up manufacturing and production base.

Roles and functions

Small Satellite technology transfer to industry, wherein NSIL will obtain license from DOS/ISRO and sub-license it to Industries
Manufacture of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) in collaboration with Private Sector
Production of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through Indian Industry
Production and marketing of Space-based products and services, including launch and application
Transfer of technology developed by ISRO Centres and constituent units of Department Of Space
Marketing spin-off technologies and products/services, both in India and

CHAPTER 5: DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVP ORGANISATION

DRDO was established in 1958. It works under “Department of Defence Research and Development” of Ministry of Defence. DRDO dedicatedly working towards enhancing self-reliance in Defence Systems and undertakes design & development leading to production of world class weapon systems and equipment in accordance with the expressed needs and the qualitative requirements laid down by the three services.

DRDO has a network of over 50 laboratories working in various areas of defence technology, including aeronautics, armaments, combat vehicles, electronics, instrumentation engineering systems, missiles, materials, naval systems, advanced computing, simulation and life sciences. DRDO while striving to meet the cutting- edge weapons technology requirements, provides ample spinoff benefits to the society at large thereby contributing to the nation building.

Mission

Design, develop and lead to production state-of-the-art sensors, weapon systems, platforms and allied equipment for our Defence
Provide technological solutions to the Services to optimise combat effectiveness and to promote well- being of the
Develop infrastructure and committed quality manpower and build strong indigenous technology

The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)

It was launched in 1983 by government of India, conceived by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who made significant contribution as the Project Director to develop India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III).

Considering the requirements of various types of missiles by defence forces, team comprising members from DRDO, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, and Indian Army, headed by Dr. Kalam, recommended development of five missile systems.

They are Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash, and Nag. In 2008, DRDO announced successful completion of IGMDP after achieving the goal of making India self-reliant in missile technology.

Missile types Ballistic Missiles

Ballistic missiles are basically projectiles. They are governed by the laws of gravity. These missiles are guided for brief duration just in starting phase of trajectory and the rest of the path is like a free falling projectile under gravity. Based the range, they can be divided into different types –

Short range ballistic missiles (SRBM)
Medium range ballistic missiles (MRBM)
Intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBM)
Inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBM)

All of the Prithvi and Agni series of missiles are Ballistic type. All the variants of Prithvi are SRBMs while Agni I to Agni IV are MRBM / IRBMs while Agni V and Agni VI are ICBMs.

SHORT RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES (SRBMs)

Name	Range	Payload Capacity
Prithvi-I	150 km	1,000 kg
Prithvi-II	250 km	500 kg
Prithvi-III	350 km	1,000 kg
Dhanush (Naval variant of Prithvi – II)	350 km	1,000 kg
Agni-I	700-1200 km	1,000 kg
Prahaar	150 km	200 kg

Pragati (Export variant of Prahaar)

60-150 km

200 kg

INTERMEDIATE RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES (IRBM):

Agni-II	2,000 km	1,000 kg
Agni-III	3,000 km	2,000-2,500 kg
Agni-IV	4,000 km	1,000 kg

INTER-CONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILES (ICBMs)

Agni-V	5,000 km	1,500 kg (3-10 MIRV?)
Agni-VI (Under Development)	6,000 km	1,000 kg (10 MIRV?)
Surya (Under Development)	10,000 Km	1,000 Kg (10 MIRV)

Agni-V: India’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), under testing, is expected to be inducted into the strategic arsenal of India soon.

It is all solid – three stage surface to surface missile, capable of carrying 1.5 tonne of nuclear warheads with a target range of 5,000 km. Unlike other missiles of the series, Agni-5 is the most-advanced in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine, can hit the targets with high precision. India reportedly has been working to develop multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) for the missile.

SUBMARINE LAUNCHED BALLISTIC MISSILES (SLBM)

K-15 Sagarika (B-05)	750 km	500 kg
K-4	3000 km	1000 kg

Cruise Missiles

These missiles are guided throughout their trajectory and do not fall freely like a normal gravity bound projectile. These missiles don’t follow the laws of gravity and their path is controlled totally throughout their journey period. These missiles are self-navigating and fly at extremely low altitudes to avoid being caught by radars. Level of accuracy in these missiles is extremely high.

Type	Name	Range	Payload Capacity
Subsonic Cruise Missiles	Nirbhay	750-1000 km	500 kg
Supersonic Cruise Missiles	BrahMos (mach <3)	290 km (Extended to ~ 450 km)	300 kg
Hypersonic Cruise Missiles	BrahMos-II (mach 7) (Under development)	400 – 600 km	—-

BrahMos:

The BrahMos missile is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile capable of being launched from submarines, warships, fighter jets or land. It uses 2-stages, first solid stage and second being the liquid ramjet. It boasts to be fastest supersonic missile in the world. The 2.5-tonne missile has a strike range of nearly 300 kilometres. Extended version of the BrahMos with a strike range of up to 500 km is also said to be ready.

India has successfully test-fired “a vertical deep dive version” of BrahMos. It allows the missile to be fired at a “near-vertical” trajectory of 90 degree, climbing 14 kilometers before making a steep dive toward its target. This will make BrahMos more effective on mountainous terrain and against bunkers as well as large surface vessels, suggesting that these improvements are aimed at bolstering Indian missile strike capability during the tensions with China.

This larger variant seems to be exclusively designed for India’s fleet of over forty Su-30 fighters that are specially modified to accommodate large cruise missiles.

The exponential gains over the 300-kilometer range of the very first BrahMos missile, developed jointly by Russia and India, were made possible by India’s June 2016 entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). It is a hallmark development as part of indigenization of defence capabilities of India and an enhancement of government’s flag ship program -“Make in India”.

Air-to-air Missile

Astra

80-100 km

15 kg

SHORT RANGE SURFACE–TO-AIR MISSILES

Trishul	9 km	5 kg
Akash	30 km	50 kg
Maitri	15 km	10 kg
Barak-8	70 km	60 kg

ANTI-TANK GUIDED MISSILES

Nag anti-tank guided missiles	7 km	8 kg
Helina (Helicopter launched Nag Missiles	7 km	8 kg

ANTI BALLISTIC MISSILES

Prithvi Air Defence Missiles	2,000 km (Exo atmospheric at 50-80 km altitude)	DM (Proximity)
Advanced Air Defence Missile	150-200km (Endo-atmospheric at 15-30 km Altitude)	DM (hit-to-kill)
Prithvi Defence Vehicle	2,000 to 3,000 km (Exo-atmospheric at more than 120 km altitude)	DM (Proximity)

Defence projects in news Project 75 India

The P75I project is a follow up of India’s Project 75 that was launched in 2005 to build six Scorpene submarines (of Kalvari class) with the assistance from France.

Under this project, the Indian Navy intends to acquire six diesel-electric
French Company DCNS (Naval Group) supposed to provide design and technology to public sector Mazagon Docks to make six Scorpene diesel submarines by 2022.
These will feature advanced air-independent propulsion systems to enable them to stay submerged for longer duration and substantially increase their operational range.
They will be capable of anti-surface and anti-ship warfare missions equipped with a vertical launch system (VLS) to enable them to carry multiple Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles.
They also have advanced stealth capabilities like noise and acoustic
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) initially on 31^st Jan 2019 gave formal approval to execute the Navy’s Project-75I (P75I) for six advanced submarines worth ~ ₹40,000 crore through the Strategic Partnership (SP) model of the Defence Procurement
Aims at providing a significant boost to the ‘Make in India’

Project 15B

Project 15B involves the Visakhapatnam-class guided missile destroyers, designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design, based on the older Project 15A Kolkata-class destroyers (made with Russia’s help).

Features

Packed with an array of state-of-the-art weapons (Barak-8 & BrahMos) and sensors, including multi-functional surveillance radars and vertically launched missile system for long distance engagement of shore, sea-based and air targets.

Highlights

Project was signed in January
The first-of-class Visakhapatnam was launched in April 2015 and is expected to enter service with the Indian Navy in 2021.
The second ship of the type, Mormugao, was launched in September 2016 and is slated to join the fleet in 2022.
In April 2019, India launched the third ship of Project 15B, a guided missile destroyer Imphal, at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Mumbai
The fourth Visakhapatnam-class guided missile destroyer is expected to enter service in 2024.

With significant indigenous content (~65%), these ships are a true hallmark of self-reliance attained by our country in warship design and shipbuilding, and a shining example of the ‘Make in India’ philosophy.

Project 17A

Project 17A was approved by the Indian Government in February 2015 to enhance the combat capabilities of the Indian
The programme is a follow-on of the Project 17 Shivalik-class
The first six ships are named after the older Nilgiri-class vessels, which were the updated versions of British Leander class
The project involves the development of seven advanced guided-missile frigates, of which four will be built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders and the remaining three ships by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE).
The ships will be named INS Nilgiri, INS Himgiri, INS Udaygiri, INS Dunagiri, INS Taragiri, INS Vindhyagiri and INS Mahendragiri after the names of hill ranges in
It will feature improved stealth capabilities and roll stabilisation than its
They have the capability to accommodate two medium-sized rotorcraft such as HAL Dhruv or Sea King 42B helicopters.
The Barak-8 missiles can be fired from a vertical launch system that can launch multiple missiles simultaneously.

Other miscellaneous things in news LCA-Tejas:

India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) together with its variants, is the smallest lightweight, multi-role, single-engine tactical fighter aircraft in the
It is designed by Aeronautical Developmental Agency (ADA) & manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
It has many advanced features like Beyond Visual Range Missile capabilities, Air-to-Air Refuelling and Air-to-Ground
Expected to become the backbone of the fighter fleet of the Indian Air Force.

As of July 2022, the Indian Air Force (IAF) operates 40 Tejas Mk1 aircraft. In January 2021, the IAF awarded HAL a contract worth $6.07 billion for 73 Tejas Mk1A fighter aircraft and 10 LCA Tejas Mk1 trainer aircraft. HAL has worked on some issues in LCA Tejas – Mk1 and created LCA Tejas Mk1A and reported to be working on another upgraded aircraft variant, the Tejas – Mk2.

Light Combat Helicopter (LCH):

LCH, named as Prachand” (fierce), an indigenously-built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), was inducted into the Indian Air Force on October 3, 2022.

Features

It is capable of operating in all possible conditions and can hit enemy targets with
It is the only attack helicopter in the world that can land and take-off at an altitude of 5,000 meters (16400 ft) with a considerable load of weapons and fuel.
It is equipped with the requisite agility, maneuverability, extended range, high altitude performance and around-the-clock, all-weather combat
The helicopter can also be deployed in high-altitude bunker-busting operations, counter-insurgency operations in the jungles and urban environments as well as for supporting ground forces.
The helicopter can also be used against slow-moving aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) of
It is a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of the Indian Air Force and Indian

Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile test – Mission Shakti

India on 28th March 2019 successfully conducted an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile test, named “Mission Shakti”, becoming the fourth country in the world to demonstrate the capability to shoot down satellites in orbit. In the past USA, Russia and China have demonstrated this ability.

Using DRDO’s ballistic missile defence interceptor targeted “microsat-R” that was launched in January 2019 into 274 km Low-earth orbit. It used “Kinetic Kill”, a space technology which uses no explosives, kinetic energy is used in destroying the target.

Test was done in lower atmosphere to ensure less space debris. The debris that was generated is expected to decay and fall to the earth. This test raised a debate on the need for conducting such a test by India.

Drones

Drones are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Remotely Piloted Aerial System (RPAS) that are controlled either by a pilot on the ground or with the help of technology. They offer tremendous benefits to almost all sectors of the economy like – agriculture, mining, infrastructure, surveillance, emergency response, transportation, geospatial mapping, defence and law enforcement etc.

Drones can be significant creators of employment and economic growth due to their reach, versatility, and ease of use, especially in India’s remote and inaccessible areas. In view of its traditional strengths in innovation, information technology, frugal engineering and huge domestic demand, India has the potential to be global drone hub by 2030.

Drones in Defence Sector

Military uses drones for surveillance and reconnaissance, in unknown or hostile territories, to track enemy movements, for border patrols, search and rescue missions, and in emergency services.

DRDO has been indigenously developing drones, some examples of them include

DRDO Lakshya: This is a target drone used for discreet aerial reconnaissance and target
DRDO Nishant: Primarily designed for intelligence-gathering over enemy territory, it is also used for reconnaissance, training, surveillance, target designation, artillery fire correction, and damage The Nishant has completed its developmental phase and user trials.
DRDO Rustom: Modelled after the American Predator UAV, the Rustom is a Medium-Altitude Long- Endurance (MALE) Like the Predator, the Rustom is designed to be used for both reconnaissance and combat missions. It is still in prototype stage and is expected to replace and supplement Israeli Heron model UAVs in the Indian Air Force.

India’s New Drone rules

The Ministry of Civil Aviation released new liberalized drone rules in August, 2021 to support growth in this rapidly evolving sector.

Classification of unmanned aircraft systems

Nano: weighing less than or equal to 250 grams
Micro: 250 grams to 2 kilograms
Small: Two kilograms to 25 kilograms
Medium: 25 kilograms to 150 kilograms
Large: weighing more than 150

Zones

The drone airspace map is an interactive map of India that demarcates the yellow and red zones across the country. Green zone is the airspace up to 400 feet that has not been designated as a red or yellow zone; and up to 200 feet above the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.

In green zones, no permission whatsoever is required for operating drones with an all-up weight up to 500 kg. Yellow zone is the airspace above 400 feet in a designated green zone; above 200 feet in the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport and above ground in the area located between 5- 8 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.

Drone operations in yellow zone require permission from the concerned air traffic control authority – AAI, IAF, Navy, HAL etc. as the case may be.

Yellow zone has been reduced from 45 km earlier to 12 km from the airport perimeter.

Red zone is the ‘no-drone zone’ within which drones can be operated only after a permission from the Central Government.

The airspace map may be modified by authorised entities from time to time.

Reforms in Defence sector

India is the world’s second largest arms importer after Saudi Arabia. Notably, Russia is the largest arms supplier to India, accounting for 49% of India’s imports.

Issues often talked about in Defence sector:

Delays in domestic production by government lead
Lack of coordination and casual approach in implementing timelines delayed big projects like LCA Tejas by 30 years.
Government’s reluctance to grant defence contracts to India’s private
Defence projects in India suffer from absence of a level playing field between India’s private sector & public
While India’s defence budget has increased over the years, a major part of it is spent on personnel costs such as salaries and pension, thereby limiting the funds available for defence

Key Steps taken by the government

Defence Procurement Procedure – (DPP) 2016 introduced many significant policy changes pertaining to India’s defence acquisition, the most significant reform measure of being ‘Strategic Partnership’.
This model has four segments — submarines, single-engine fighter aircraft, helicopters and armoured carriers/main battle tanks — which would be specifically opened up for the private sector.
As part of this one Indian private company would be selected in each segment which would tie-up with shortlisted global equipment manufacturers to manufacture the equipment in India under technology transfer (Strategic Partnership).
‘Innovations For Defence Excellence (iDEX)’ was launched by the government of India in 2018 to modernize the Defence
iDEX aims at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes &
The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 has increased the indigenous content requirement in all categories of defence
Increase in indigenous availability of high-end military materials, the use of indigenous software in equipment/systems and a boost to innovation by start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
In September 2020, the government increased the Foreign Direct Investment in the defence sector from 49% to 74% under the automatic
In 2020, the government announced a ban on 101 defence items and the list shall be progressively reviewed and expanded every year by the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA).
India’s also released a newer list of 107 defence items on 24th March 2022 that will attract a phased import ban between December 2022 and December 2028, with the indigenisation drive covering warships, helicopters, tanks, infantry combat vehicles, missiles, ammunition and radars.
In September 2021, new rules are announced to enhance the delegation of revenue procurement powers for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Under the new rules, critical equipment, like air-to-air refuellers for the Air Force, can be hired for short periods as compared to buying them or a long-term lease, which is not only considerably expensive, but also takes a long time.

CALL US

ADDRESS

S&T

Restriction enzymes:

Ligase:

Vectors

Features of vectors

Genetic engineering method – Basic steps (E.g. insulin production in bacteria)

Advantages of transgenic animals Medical use:

Industrial use:

Research use:

Issues:

Transgenic plants

Advantages of Transgenic Plants:

Issues with transgenic plants/crops

Transgenic crops Golden rice

Advantages:

Issues:

Bt-Cotton

Drawbacks and issues surrounding Bt cotton

Bt Brinjal

GM Mustard

GM Rubber

Cloning

Cloning Dolly, the sheep

Applications

Drawbacks/issues

In vitro Fertilization technology (IVF)

Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) and three parent child

Northern White Rhino

Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation ACT 2021

Background

Key Features of the Bill

Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021

Highlights

Key Issues and Analysis of surrogacy regulation

Stem cells

Important characteristics of stem cells:

Types of stem cells (Based on differential potential) Totipotent stem cells:

Pluripotent stem cells:

Oligopotent stem cells:

Unipotent stem cells

Types of stem cells (Based on location/source)

Applications:

Issues:

Gene therapy

Advantages of gene therapy

Issues with gene therapy

Status of gene therapy

CRISPR-Cas9

Designer Baby

Advantages:

Issues:

Designer Baby – Controversy

The ethical dilemma

Genome Sequencing Studies

Benefits of genomic studies

Precision Healthcare

Pharmacogenomics

Sustainable Agriculture

Host-Pathogen interactions

Genome sequencing studies in India

100k GenomeAsia project

IndiGen Project

GenomeIndia project

Restriction enzymes:

Ligase:

Vectors

Features of vectors

Genetic engineering method – Basic steps (E.g. insulin production in bacteria)

Advantages of transgenic animals Medical use:

Industrial use:

Research use:

Issues:

Transgenic plants

Advantages of Transgenic Plants:

Issues with transgenic plants/crops

Transgenic crops Golden rice

Advantages:

Issues: