What are the research and developmental achievements in applied biotechnology ? How will these achievements help to uplift the poorer sections of the society ?
Approach · directive: “what / how will”
What it asks · List India's research and development achievements in applied biotechnology (agriculture, health, genomics) and explain how they can help the poorer sections.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- List India's R&D achievements in applied biotechnology: agriculture, health, genomics and the support system
- Explain how these achievements will help uplift the poorer sections, with the cautions that apply
Open with · Applied biotechnology turns laboratory science into seeds, vaccines, drugs and diagnostics, and its value for the poor lies in affordability and access.
Cover
- Agriculture: Bt cotton, India's only commercially cultivated GM crop as of 2021 (GM mustard was cleared for environmental release in 2022, but the Supreme Court split on it in July 2024); tissue-culture plantlets; marker-assisted varieties such as the bacterial-blight-resistant Improved Samba Mahsuri rice; biofertilisers and biopesticides.
- Health: indigenous vaccines (Rotavac, Covaxin, ZyCoV-D, Corbevax), recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, low-cost biosimilars such as insulin and affordable diagnostic kits.
- Genomics: INSACOG (formed December 2020) for tracking coronavirus variants and the GenomeIndia project (over 10,000 genomes sequenced) support disease surveillance and precision medicine.
- Support system: Department of Biotechnology, BIRAC and the Biotech-KISAN programme fund research, start-ups and farmer-scientist links, including for women and small farmers.
- Uplift of the poor: cheaper vaccines and drugs cut health costs; resilient, higher-yield and biofortified crops raise small-farm incomes and nutrition; bio-industries create rural jobs.
- Cautions: biosafety and regulation of GM crops, seed prices and corporate dependence, IPR issues and uneven access; need affordable pricing, extension and public-sector research.
Close with · Biotechnology reaches the poor only when innovation is matched by affordable access, sound regulation and farmer training.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 255 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Applied biotechnology turns molecular biology into seeds, vaccines, drugs and diagnostics; for the poor its worth depends on whether the products are cheap, safe and within reach.
R&D achievements
- Agriculture: Bt cotton, the only GM crop under commercial cultivation as of 2021; marker-assisted varieties such as Improved Samba Mahsuri rice resistant to bacterial blight; tissue-culture plantlets; biofertilisers and biopesticides.
- Health: indigenous vaccines including Rotavac and recombinant hepatitis B, and against Covid-19, Covaxin, ZyCoV-D and Corbevax; low-cost biosimilars such as insulin; affordable diagnostic kits.
- Genomics: INSACOG (December 2020) tracks coronavirus variants, and GenomeIndia has sequenced over 10,000 genomes for disease surveillance and precision medicine.
- Support system: the Department of Biotechnology and BIRAC fund research and start-ups; Biotech-KISAN links scientists with small and women farmers.
How they uplift the poor
- Health costs: cheaper vaccines and biosimilars cut out-of-pocket spending; low-cost diagnostics bring early detection to primary care and immunisation programmes.
- Farm incomes: resilient, higher-yield and biofortified crops raise small-farm output and nutrition; biofertilisers and biopesticides cut input costs.
- Jobs and enterprise: bio-industries, rural bio-enterprises and Biotech-KISAN hubs create work outside agriculture.
- Public health: genomic surveillance guides pandemic response, on which the poor, with the least buffer, depend most.
Cautions
- Biosafety and regulatory trust: GM mustard was cleared for environmental release in 2022, but the Supreme Court split on it in July 2024.
- Seed prices and corporate dependence, IPR barriers and uneven access; public-sector research, affordable pricing and extension are needed.
Biotechnology reaches the poor only when innovation is matched by affordable access, sound regulation and farmer training.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify). UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.