IAS Gyan

Daily News Analysis

Gene Bank

17th August, 2021 Science and Technology

Context

  • Union Agriculture Minister inaugurated the world's second-largest refurbished gene bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Pusa, New Delhi.
  • The National Gene Bank established in the year 1996 to preserve the seeds of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations, has the capacity to preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds.

 

About

  • Gene banks are a type of biorepository that preserves genetic material.
  • For plants, this is done by in vitro storage, freezing cuttings from the plant, or stocking the seeds (e.g. in a seedbank).
  • For animals, this is done by the freezing of sperm and eggs in zoological freezers until further need.
  • Genetic material in a 'gene bank' is preserved in a variety of ways, such as freezing at -196° Celsius in liquid nitrogen, being placed in artificial ecosystems, and put in controlled nutrient mediums.
  • There are many gene banks all over the world, with the Svalbard Global Seed Vault being considered the most famous one.
  • It is located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1746485