VidBodh AcademyThe art and science of civil services preparation

Science and Technology › Biotechnology

हिन्दी — Read in Hindi

Genomics, gene editing and cell therapy

Genome projects, gene and cell therapy, stem cells and their regulation, epigenetics and the microbiome. Prelims has asked about the GenomeIndia Project and what somatic cell nuclear transfer is used for.

Foundation note: Gene editing: CRISPR, base editing and prime editing

UPSC has asked

  • Prelims 2026: the GenomeIndia Project
  • Prelims 2017: what somatic cell nuclear transfer is used for

Showing 1 of 3 articles, those that changed from 1 to 31 July 2026.Show all

Prelims and Mains

Base editing, developed in 2016, converts one DNA letter into another without cutting both strands, unlike CRISPR-Cas9.

  • Because it does not cut both strands, it should cause fewer unintended changes.
  • Delivery to the brain needs large doses of adeno associated viruses, which can provoke a severe immune reaction.

What changed

  1. 26 Jul 2026BriefA girl in China with a rare disorder caused by the CHD3 gene died after what is thought to be the first base editing therapy directed at the brain. It ran as a hospital trial that needed no review by the national drug regulator. Mains: the gap was between the rules and their enforcement, as with He Jiankui's embryo editing in 2018. The Hindu, 26 Jul 2026: Girl's death in China reveals human cost of unregulated science (opens in a new tab)

UPSC has asked

  • Prelims 2020: germline editing and human induced pluripotent stem cells in a pig embryo

Download a copy

Every article on this page, in full.