News

India has become the first country in the world to develop rice varieties (DRR Rice 100 (Kamala), Pusa DST Rice 1) using genome editing technology. 

What was the technology used?

• Scientists used Site-Directed Nuclease 1 (SDN-1) and Site-Directed Nuclease 2 (SDN-2) techniques. These are genome-editing methods — not genetic modification (GM).
• Since 2001, SDN-1 and SDN-2 genome-editing techniques have been applied in crops like tomatoes and soybean in the U.S., as well as in a fish variety in Japan.
  • SDN-1: A precise cut is made, and the plant’s natural repair mechanism fixes the DNA.
  • SDN-2: The repair process is guided using a template — but still no foreign gene is added.
  • These methods are distinct from SDN-3, where a foreign gene is inserted — making it a GM crop.
• Tools: CRISPR-Cas-based editing to introduce precise mutations in the plant’s native DNA without adding any foreign gene. Thus, both the rice varieties are classified as non-GM in several countries and are exempt from GM regulations of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).