DNA, ICRISAT - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Lalji Singh

Explanation:
Eminent scientist and father of DNA fingerprinting in India Lalji Singh passed away following heart attack. He was 70.

He was one of the leaders instrumental in making DNA fingerprinting mainstream in India, both at level of research as well as for forensic applications.

Lalji Singh: Know More

• He also set up a slew of dedicated labs that worked on several aspects of genetics such as population biology, structural biology and transgenic research.
• His work in field of DNA fingerprinting technology also contributed for sex determination, Wildlife conservation forensics and evolution and migration of humans.
• Based on his work he was tasked by government to establish Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) in late 1990s with mandate of making it a nodal centre for DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics for all species and several diseases. He also had founded Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES).
• Dr. Singh served as a director at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad from 1998 to 2009. He also had served as Vice Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University (2001 - 2014), his alma mater.
• Until recently, he was active in the Genome Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to diagnose and treat genetic disorders affecting the underprivileged, especially from rural India. He was awarded prestigious Padma Shri award.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Researchers from Columbia University and the New York Genome Centre have stored a computer operating system, a short movie along with other data in DNA.

Study showed an algorithm designed for streaming video on a cellphone could unlock DNA's nearly full storage potential by squeezing more information into its four base nucleotides.


DNA is an ideal storage medium because it is ultracompact and can last hundreds of thousands of years if kept in a cool, dry place, as demonstrated by the recent recovery of DNA from the bones of a 430,000-year-old human ancestor found in a cave in Spain.

DNA won't degrade over time like cassette tapes and CDs, and it won't become obsolete.

Researchers chose six files to encode, or write, into DNA:

• an operating system,
• an 1895 French film "Arrival of a train at La Ciotat",
• a US$50 Amazon gift card, a computer virus,
• a Pioneer plaque and
• a 1948 study by information theorist Claude Shannon.

They compressed the files into a master file, and then split the data into short strings of binary code made up of ones and zeros.

Using an erasure-correcting algorithm called fountain codes, they randomly packaged the strings into so-called droplets, and mapped the ones and zeros in each droplet to the four nucleotide bases in DNA: A, G, C and T.

The algorithm deleted letter combinations known to create errors and added a barcode to each droplet to help reassemble the files later.

The researchers showed that their coding strategy packed 215 petabytes of data on a single gram of DNA, which was the highest-density data-storage device ever created.

ANSWER: Three Person IVF

Explanation:
Scientists have unveiled an improved method of transferring DNA between human egg cells, a technique called pronuclear transfer or three person IVF to create embryos free of genetic defects and impairments

• Method involves extracting healthy DNA of mother and father from the nucleus of the fertilised egg
• Each egg cell also contains different types of DNA residing in tiny cell structures known as mitochondria
• Sometimes the mitochondrial DNA undergo mutations which can be transmitted to offspring and can cause an array of disorders.
• The nuclear DNA is transferred into a donated egg cell -- with healthy mitochondrial DNA -- from which the nucleus has been removed.
• This marks significant progress towards a safer form of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) for women who carry disease-causing mitochondrial mutations.
• Estimates vary widely, but about one in 5,000 children is thought to be born with these mutations which can affect the muscles, eye, brain or heart.
• Mitochondria are tiny structures inside our cells which turn sugar and oxygen into energy- they are known as powerhouses or batteries of the cells
• Mitochondria have their own DNA separate from DNA within the cell nucleus.
• In 2015, Britain became the first country in the world to legalise pronuclear transfer for women with mitochondrial disorders.
• The new study, using over 500 eggs from 64 donor women, showed that small tweaks to the existing procedure can reduce the risk of mutant mitochondrial DNA transferral.
• It worked best to perform the procedure on the day of the egg's fertilisation, not later, the scientists found and it was better to freeze the egg of the patient, rather than that of the donor.

ANSWER: Deoxy Ribonucleic Acid

Explanation:
New research in the UK has detected sound bubbles in DNA essential to life which will change basic understanding of biochemical reactions within a cell. Research carried out by academics of University of Glasgow published in Nature Communications describes the way double stranded DNA splits using delocalised soundwaves are a hallmark of quantum effects.

• DNA contains the code to life and holds the blue print for each living thing
• Dedicated enzymes responsible for making new proteins read the code by splitting the double strand to access information
• One of the biggest outstanding questions of biology has been how these enzymes find the initial hole or bubble in the double strand to commence reading the code
• It is held that DNA has regions where specific sequences of bases modify the stiffness of double helix favouring the formation of bubbles

ANSWER: DNA Origami

Explanation:
Scientists have developed an algorithm that uses DNA strands to automatically build 3D nanoparticles, which may be used in a range of applications such as vaccines, gene editing tools and memory storage.

• Researchers can build complex, nanometre-scale structures of almost any shape and form, using strands of DNA.
• However, these particles must be designed by hand, in a complex and laborious process. This has limited the technique, known as DNA origami, to just a small group of experts in the field.
• The algorithm starts with a simple, 3D geometric representation of the final shape of the object, and then decides how it should be assembled from DNA

ANSWER: NBeG47

Explanation:
ICRISAT or International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics has announced the release of the first machine harvestable chickpea variety NBeG47 in AP. Normal process of harvesting 2.25 tonnes of chickpea takes a total of 3 days and will be harvested in 75 minutes by standard machinery. This is possible through a new taller chickpea variety suitable for machine harvest. This chickpea was funded by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation under National Food Security Mission of Union Ministry of Agriculture.

ANSWER: Finger Millet

Explanation:
Finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.], which figured among the six small millets in research portfolio of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), has now been formally announced as the mandate crop. Finger millet provides opportunities for small holders, and ICRISAT gene bank has nearly 6000 finger millet germ plasm accessions from 24 nations. This crop is an integral part of the ICRISAT portfolio. Following its declaration as a mandate crop, it has led consumers to improved nutrition and offers much economic opportunity which is why it has been given prominence. Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement of Sorghum and Millets in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (HOPE) project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is showing encouraging results in improving productivity of finger millet and household incomes in East Africa. In Malawi, a three finger millet variety will resurrect crops that disappeared from the southern region of the nation. Finger millet variety U15 is the most preferred for rapid maturity and grain colour while IE 3779 is preferred because of disease resistance. Other mandate crops of ICRISAT include sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeon-pea and groundnut.