PremiumThe regulatory streamlining will bring transformational change in product development and commercialization and thereby will contribute to agenda for Atma Nirbhar Bharat, the government said
New Delhi: The Centre is streamlining regulations for the development of genome edited plants, the Ministry of Science & Technology said on Thursday adding that the technology is ‘promising’ as it offers huge economic potential.
“The regulatory streamlining will bring transformational change in product development and commercialization and thereby will contribute to agenda for Atma Nirbhar Bharat of Government of India," the government said in a statement.
This has also paved the way for India as emerging global power in genome edited plants based technology and its applications.
“Modern biotechnology has been advancing at a rapid pace with the advent of new molecular techniques and their potential applications. Plant genome editing is amongst one of the most promising technologies in terms of applied biological research and innovation with a huge economic potential in a wide range of sectors," the ministry said.
Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology proactively initiated the development of draft guidelines for the safety assessment of genome edited plants through extensive deliberations.
The draft guidelines were accordingly revised and later notified in May this year. They determine regulatory framework and scientific guidance for research & development in genome edited plants.
The norms for regulatory review of genome edited plants under SDN-1 and SDN-2 categories were issued in October, the ministry said. SDN-1 and SDN-2 refers to types of genetic editing.
These SOPs shall be applicable for all organizations involved in research, development and handling of the Genome Edited Plants under SDN-1 and SDN-2 categories from the date of notification. The SOPs provide regulatory road map, requirements for research and development and meet the threshold for exemption of Genome Edited Plant(s) under the SDN-1 or SDN-2 categories.
Considering huge growth and advancement in genome editing research and applications in the field of agriculture, these Guidelines & SOPs will be very valuable resource documents for the country. These Guidelines & SOPs are expected to speed up development of plant varieties and to reduce the time of approval, it said.