Indian farmers may grow world’s first gene edited rice variety this winter
ICAR is set to sign an MoU with Corteva this month, paving the way for commercial release of the gene-edited rice variety Pusa DST Rice 1. Seed multiplication is expected during the upcoming rabi season, pending final government approval.
More than a year after its announcement, one of India’s two gene-edited rice varieties is set to be planted in the upcoming rabi season for seed multiplication. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) this month with US-based Corteva, which holds the license for the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology.
Highly placed sources said that ICAR has received 2 of the 3 approvals, including one from the Ministry of External Affairs, required to sign the MoU with Corteva and once the third one is received the agreement will be signed. After the MoU is signed, it will pave way for the commercial release of “Pusa DST Rice 1″, developed by ICAR’s New Delhi-based Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).
“First the MoU will be signed with Corteva and next will be with US-based MIT/Broad institute which has the patent over ‘CRISPR-CaS12a’ tool,” said a top official. The ‘CRISPR-CaS12a’ tool was used to develop DRR Dhan 100 (KAMALA), developed by Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Rice Research.
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Source : The Hindu Businessline
