UPSC Prelims 2017 GS Paper I · Q78 of 100 General Science easy

What is the application of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Technology ?

  1. (a) Production of biolarvicides
  2. (b) Manufacture of biodegradable plastics
  3. (c) Reproductive cloning of animals ✓ UPSC's answer
  4. (d) Production of organisms free of diseases

Why the answer is (c)

• Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) removes the nucleus of an egg cell and replaces it with the nucleus of a body (somatic) cell; the reconstructed egg develops into an embryo genetically identical to the donor.

• It is the technique of reproductive cloning — Dolly the sheep (1996) and India's cloned buffalo Garima (NDRI, 2009) — option (c).

• It can also be used for therapeutic cloning to derive stem cells, but not for biolarvicides (a), bioplastics (b) or disease-free organisms (d).

• Hence option (c).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) Production of biolarvicides
Biolarvicides come from bacteria like Bti, not SCNT.
(b) Manufacture of biodegradable plastics
Biodegradable plastics are made by microbes, not SCNT.
(d) Production of organisms free of diseases
SCNT clones organisms; it does not make them disease-free.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2017, held on 18 June 2017. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

Practise this paper free