After green revolution, now a stage has come when further increase in crop yield with the existing crop varieties is not possible. Use of agro-chemicals is two expensive for the farmers and are too harmful for animals and the environment. The answer to the questions whether there is a method to increase the yield and reduce the use of agro-chemicals, is the use of genetically modified (GM) crops.
Write six points on the advantages ofthe GM crops.

Two of the steps involved in producing nematoderesistant tobacco plants based on the process of RNAi are given. Write the missing steps in proper sequence in the blank spaces a, c, d, f, g and h provided.

In mammals, insulin is synthcsised as a pro-hormone. Observe the diagram showing the maturation of pro-insulin into insulin given below and answer the questions that follow.

(a) Why is it called pro-insulin?
(b) Mention the chemical changes that the proinsulin undergoes to become the mature functional insulin.
(c) What is the challenge in the production ofinsulin using rDNA techniques?

A child is born with a very weak immune system due to the deficiency of an enzyme; it is a hereditary disorder. The doctor explained the available methods of treatment and advised for gene therapy.
(a) Identify the deficient enzyme and the cause of it.
(b) What is gene therapy?
(c) ame two other methods available for the treatment of this disease.

For effective treatment of a disease, early diagnosis and understanding its pathophysiology is important But, the presence of a pathogen is normally suspected, only when the pathogen produces the symptom(s) of the disease. By this time, the concentration of the pathogen must have become very high in the body.
(a) Expand PCR.
(b) How is it used in early diagnosis of a disease?
(c) Name a disease for the detection of which PCR is routinely used.
(d) Name two other molecular diagnostics used in early detection of diseases.

The diversity of rice in India is one of the richest in the world. There are an estimated 200,000 varieties of rice in India alone. Among these, Basmati rice is distinct for its unique aroma and flavour. In 1997, an American company got patent rights on Basmati rice, which allowed the company to sell a 'new' variety of Basmati in the U.S and abroad.
(a) How many documented varieties of Basmati are grown in India?
(b) What is the 'new' variety of Basmati, developed by the U.S. company?
(c) Name two other medicinal plants for which the MNCs have been attempting to get patents.

A multinational company (XYZ) marketed a medicine extracted from medicinal herbs grown in the sprawling fields in a foreign country. This herb is found growing in our country only and no compensation was paid or permission taken from the relevant authority.
(a) What is the term used to refer to such an act committed by the multinational company?
(b) Justify the meaning of the term.
(c) What has the Indian Government done to prevent such deeds?

Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v) given below:
Golden rice was engineered from normal rice by Potrykus and Beyer in the 1990s. The typical golden colour is due to the production of \(\beta\) carotene a precursor of vitamin - A. Golden rice differs from its parental strain by the addition of three \(\beta\) carotene genes. These included two genes from daffodil plant and third from a bacterium. The incorporation of these genes allows the rice plant to modify certain metabolic pathways in its cells to produce \(\beta\)-carotene.
(i) Due to genetic modification golden rice plants produce and store \(\beta\) - carotene in

(ii) Transfer of genes to produce golden rice is achieved by

(iii) In golden rice two genes were taken from

(iv) Golden rice is helpful to fight against disease caused by the deficiency of

(v) Golden rice was genetically engineered by

Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v) given below :
Plants having foreign genes in their genome through genetic engineering are called transgenic plants. Genes can be incorporated either through a vector or through direct introduction of DNA. Bt cotton is a genetically modified organism which is pest resistant. It contain gene cry I Ac and cry II Ab of Bacillus thuringiensis. It is used to controllepidopterans, coleopterans and dipterans. Bt cotton can resist cotton bollworm and produce higher yields. Cry gene produces cry protein or Bt toxin. It is an endotoxin which remains as protoxin in plants and converted to active toxin after getting ingested by the insects. Alkaline pH of the insect gut solubilises the protein crystals, the activated toxin creates pores to the mid guts wall of the insects which cause them to death.
(i) Bt cotton crops are

(ii) Cotton bollworms are killed by the protein encoded by the gene

(iii) Which of the following is not an advantage of GM crops?

(iv) Bacillus thuringiensis is a

(v) Assertion : Cotton bollworms are killed by ingesting the leaves of the transgenic plant.
Reason : Bt toxin binds with the midgut wall of the insect and make pores in them.

Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v) given below:
Transgenic animals can serve as factories that in some cases, may produce large amount of proteins more efficiently. Transgenic mice have been engineered to express human antibodies by introducing large segment of human DNA encoding human immunoglobulin genes. In transgenic large animals such as cow or sheep proteins of pharmaceutical value can be produced in large quantities in milk which is later purified. Transgenesis can be used to alter many phenotypic properties including growth rate, fat composition, milk production, hair texture, etc.
(i) The production of transgenic animals includes

(ii) In transgenic animals, i.e., cow and sheep proteins of pharmaceutical value are produced in large quantities in the

(iii) Mouse is mostly preferred animal for studies on gene transfer because
A. short oestrous cycle
B.long gestation period
C.Short generation time
D.Production of one or two offspring per pregnancy

(iv) Transgenic genes alter many phenotypic properties including

(v) Assertion : Transgenic mice have been engineered to express human antibodies.
Reason : Large segment of human DNA encoding human immunoglobulin have been transferred to mice.

Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v) given below:
Transgenic cows have extra gene or genes inserted into their DNA. Firstly the genes for the desired product is identified and sequenced. Then a gene construct containing this desired gene is introduced into female cow cells. Transgenic bovine cells are selected and fused with bovine oocytes that have had all of their chromosomes removed. Once fused with the oocyte, the transgenic cells chromosomes are reprogrammed to direct development into an embryo which can be implanted into a recipient cow. The resulting transgenic cow only express the trans gene in her milk. This is because expression of the trans gene is controlled by a promoter specific to lactating mammary cells. The first transgenic cow was 'Rosie:
(i) The gene construct with desired gene is introduced into female cow cells by

(ii) Production of transgenic cow fulfill the objective of

(iii) The name of first transgenic cow is

(iv) Transgenic cow is produced through the implantation of _____containing transgene into recipient cow.

(v) Assertion : Transgenes only express in the mammary glands of transgenic cow.
Reason : Transgenes are present in chromosomes of every cell in transgenic cow

Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v) given below:
European patent office, Munich granted patent for fungicidal use of neem oil, to firm of WR. Grace & Co. It was challenged by Vandana Shiva and Ajay Phadke who had researched neem in India and it was shown that Grace & Co. had not unveiled any novelty factor in neerns properties. Ethics include rules of conduct by which a community regulates the behaviour and decides as to which activity is lawful and which is not.
(i)_________ allow private, monopoly right over animals and plants.

(ii) Which of the following is not a criteria of granting patent?

(iii) On which plants patents have been granted?

(iv) Rules of conduct that may be used to regulate our activities in relation to biological world are included in

(v) Assertion : Genes and cells should not be patented.
Reason : Genes and cells are not an inventions

Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v) given below:
Insulin used to cure diabetes was earlier extracted from pancreas of slaughtered cattle and pigs. Insulin extracted from an animal source, though caused some patients to develop allergy or other types of reactions to the foreign protein. Human insulin consists of two short polypeptide chains: chain A and chain B, that are linked together by disulphide bridges. In mammals including humans, insulin is synthesised as a pro-hormone which contains an extra stretch called the C-peptide. This C peptide is not present in mature insulin and is removed during maturation into insulin.
(i) Identify A in the given figure.
 
 

(ii) The following is a list of some stages involved in producing human insulin from genetically engineered bacteria.
1. The bacteria are cultured in a fermenter for large scale production.
2. Recombinant insulin is extracted from the bacterial cells that expresses insulin gene.
3. The same restriction enzyme is used again to cut the bacterial plasmid for insertion of the human insulin gene.
4. Bacteria take up the plasmid carrying the insulin gene.
5. A restriction enzyme is used to cut human DNA to extract the insulin gene.
Select the correct order of these stages.

(iii) To insert the insulin gene into bacterial DNA, both the bacterial plasmid and the human chromosome containing the insulin gene are treated with the same restriction enzyme. Using the same restriction enzyme ensures that

(iv) Why is the fermentor important for the production of human insulin by transgenic bacteria

(v) A bacteriologist carries out his first attempt at engineering E.coli with the gene for human insulin. During the process, he realises that his stock of DNA ligase has depleted but decides to continue anyway. What is a likely consequence of his decision?

Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v) given below:
Gene therapy is the technique of genetic engineering to replace a faulty gene by a normal healthy functional gene. It is a way of treating genetic disease by introducing a piece of DNA into the cells of an affected individual. Liposomes can be used for gene therapy as they target the cells affected by a genetic disease.
(i) A patient suffers from adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency, an autosomal recessive immune deficiency in which bone marrow lymphoblasts cannot replicate to generate immuno-competent lymphocytes. The treatment option that would cure the patient is

(ii) Which type of gene therapy is least effective in transferring DNA to the nucleus?

(iii) Liposomes can be used for gene therapy as they target the cells affected by a genetic disease. The diagram shows the structure of a liposome.

What feature of a cell surface membrane allows the liposome to target cells affected by a genetic disease

(iv) Which of the following disorders would gene therapy be least effective

(v) Following are some reasons explaining why gene therapy is not yet fully an effective treatment for genetic diseases.
I. Lack of knowledge of DNA sequences
II. Lack of efficient and safe gene delivery system
III. Cost of the technology
IV. Some diseases involve multiple genes
V. Problems with appropriate gene regulation
Select the correct option.

Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v) given below:
Stem cells hold the potential for manifold applications in biotechnology based next generation therapeutics. Scientists are trying to formulate better and more personalised treatment modalities against some seemingly irremediable diseases, by harnessing body's own stem cells and stem cell niche. Stem cells of different origin and level of potency are being investigated for tissue regeneration, treatment of bone defect, drug testing, gene therapy and cell based therapy for muscle damage, spinal cord injury, cancer therapy, etc. The properties of embryonic and adult stem cells to either self-renew or differentiate into multiple cell lineages make them an attractive source for cell therapies, tissue engineering and as model system for drug screening.
(i) Stem cells are widely used in medical research. Which property of stem cells makes them particularly useful in this research?

(ii) Stem cells can be divided into four main types. Which of the four types of stem cell can differentiate into a limited range of tissues?

(iii) Which feature of stem cells obtained from blood in the umbilical cord enables their use in the treatment of a variety of blood cancers?

(iv) The search for pluripotent stem cells is intense. The spermatogonium is the diploid precursor of haploid sperm in the development pathway of mouse gametes as shown below.

Scientists were interested to find out which stages of sperm development have stem cell capacity. Two experiments were carried out using sterile host males with testes that lacked germ cells. The results are shown in the table.

What property of a stem cell ISmIssmg m the secondary spermatocytes?

(v) Which feature of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is illustrated below?