Science and Technology › Biotechnology
हिन्दी — Read in HindiAgricultural and food biotechnology
Genome edited crops, crop and animal genomes, breeding technologies, fish farming systems and food grown from cells. Prelims has asked how genome sequencing can be used in Indian agriculture and about biofilters in recirculating aquaculture.
Foundation note: GM crops in India: what is approved, who approves
Showing 1 of 5 articles, those that changed from 1 to 31 July 2026.Show all
Genome edited crops: India's rule and the European law
Copy link to Genome edited crops: India's rule and the European lawPrelims and Mains
Genome editing makes edits classed as SDN-1, SDN-2 or SDN-3, and India exempts SDN-1 and SDN-2 edits, which leave no foreign DNA, from the rules for genetically modified organisms.
- The exemption came through a 2022 office memorandum, so these edits bypass the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee.
- SDN-3 inserts a gene and remains regulated.
What changed
10 Jul 2026New
- The European Parliament approved a two tier law on 17 June 2026, with a light regime for simple edits.
- Herbicide tolerant plants are kept under full assessment whatever technique made them, a check India's rule lacks.
- Unapproved herbicide tolerant Bt cotton is estimated to cover a quarter to nearly a third of India's cotton area.
Mains: Bt traits protect yield from pests and do not raise it, so new approvals alone would not restore cotton productivity.
Frontline, 10 Jul 2026: The European Parliament has voted to ease its rules on gene edited crops but has deliberately kept herbicide tolerant plants under the full genetically modified organism regime, a check that India's own framework does not have. (opens in a new tab) · The Indian Express, 2 Jul 2026: The argument that new genetically modified cotton events would restore yields is being contested (opens in a new tab)
Also filed elsewhere
- Radiation in agriculture: mutation breeding and food irradiation · on Fusion, radiation applications and nuclear governance
Mutation breeding exposes seeds to radiation to create changes within the crop's own genome, and the breeder then selects the plants worth keeping.