National policy needed for synthetic biology, says DBT paper

What is the news?

A draft foresight paper on synthetic biology released by the Department of Biotechnology has stressed the need for a national policy that can consolidate India’s stand on the issue. The paper has been developed through a consultative process with experts from various organisations, non-profit organisations, and industry experts.

What is synthetic biology?

Synthetic biology refers to the science of using genetic sequencing, editing, and modification to create unnatural organisms or organic molecules that can function in living systems.

What are the applications of Synthetic biology?

Synthetic biology enables scientists to design and synthesise new sequences of DNA from scratch.

It has applications in various fields. For instance, It can help in a) Developing synthetic organisms for vaccination, b) Creating natural products in a lab such as vanillin, extracted from vanilla seeds, can be grown in yeasts with additional plant genomes, c) Use of gene editing systems such as CRISPR will allow defective genes in animals, plants and even people to be silenced, or changed, and control biological outcomes.

Pharmaceutical industry: Synthetic biology can be used to make natural compounds such as artemisinin used for the treatment of malaria and Car T cell therapy for cancer treatment.

In the fashion industry: Some companies are exploring the possibility of dyeing jeans without producing hazardous waste using synthetic biology.

In Agriculture: Companies using synthetic biology to deliver fixed nitrogen to plants instead of using fertilisers, engineering microbes to create food additives or brew proteins.

Status of Synthetic biology in India

As part of the 12th Five-Year Plan, India had set up a task force on systems biology and synthetic biology research in 2011. This body underlined the potential benefits from synthetic biotechnology in biofuels, bioremediation, biosensors, food and health and made a strong case for a push for the technology and highlighted that India could be a world leader as a protector and supporter of “open source biological platforms”.

The government proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill in 2013. The bill mooted the creation of an independent regulator to adjudicate research around genetic engineering that could have also encompassed synthetic biology.

But the Bill has been pending since then. Currently, the approvals for Biotechnology crops come from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM) under the Department of Biotechnology.

Why does India need a National policy on Synthetic biology?

According to the paper, India need to create a national policy for the following reasons,

1) Synthetic biology is rapidly evolving with new discoveries happening every year, 2) Synthetic biology is seen as one of the top 10 breakthrough technologies as part of the “new industrial revolution” that are “most likely to change the world”, 3) The field is learning from nature about various genetic pathways and India is rich in biodiversity. With a policy in place India can reap the benefits of this sector, 4) There is a need to look at the risk it poses to biodiversity. For instance, synthetic biological products might escape into the environment and recombine with existing biodiversity.

Source: This post is based on the article “National policy needed for synthetic biology, says DBT paper” published in PIB on 17th February 2022.