Genetic Engineering in the Preservation of Endangered Species
Chapter Ninety-Seven
Syllabus topic 2, "Bio-diversity and Legal Regulation"
Pages 341 to 344 of 818
In one line
Genetic techniques can help a species that is nearly gone, and the University asks about it, but they do not replace a habitat.
In exam wording: the significance of genetic engineering and related techniques in the preservation of endangered species of plants and animals lies in cryopreservation of gametes, embryos, seed and tissue; in assisted reproduction, including artificial insemination and embryo transfer, for populations too small or too dispersed to breed naturally; in genetic analysis for the management of captive breeding and for the identification of seized wildlife products; and in the recovery of populations through re-introduction; but each of these is ex-situ conservation within article 9 of the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992, which is expressly to be undertaken predominantly for the purpose of complementing in-situ measures, and none of them restores a habitat or an ecological function.
What the techniques actually do
Cryopreservation. Gametes, embryos, seed and tissue frozen at very low temperature and kept indefinitely. A gene bank of seed is the plant equivalent, and section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act 2002 is the Indian provision under which the Central Government designates institutions as repositories for different categories of biological resources and requires them to keep the material including voucher specimens in safe custody.
Assisted reproduction. Artificial insemination and embryo transfer allow breeding between individuals that cannot be brought together, and allow a female of a commoner related species to carry an embryo of the rarer one.
Genetic analysis. Sequencing tells a manager how closely two captive individuals are related, which is what prevents inbreeding in a small population. It also identifies the species from which a seized product came, which is evidence in a prosecution under the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 and under Chapter VB where the specimen is listed in Schedule IV.
Genetic rescue. Introducing individuals from another population to restore genetic variation in an inbred one. This is a management technique that uses genetic information rather than genetic engineering in the strict sense of rule 3(iv) of the Rules of 1989.
Cloning and de-extinction. Technically possible in some cases, and legally almost unexamined. The Indian Rules of 1989 apply to a cloned organism only if the process is genetic engineering within rule 3(iv), which requires insertion of externally generated heritable material, self cloning, or modification by deletion.
Where each sits in Indian law
| Technique | Provision |
|---|---|
| Gene banks and repositories | Section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act 2002 |
| Captive breeding of a wild animal | Section 12 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, a permit for scientific research or for translocation, and section 12(bb) for captive breeding as the Act provides |
| Zoos and their breeding programmes | Chapter IVA of the 1972 Act and the Recognition of Zoo Rules 2009 |
| Breeding of a scheduled specimen | Sections 49M, 49N and 49-O of the 1972 Act, Chapter VB |
| Threatened species, collection controls, rehabilitation | Section 38 of the 2002 Act |
| Any genetically engineered organism | The Rules of 1989 |
| Re-introduction | Section 12 of the 1972 Act; article 9(c) of the Convention |
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