What is the application of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Technology ?
- (a) Production of biolarvicides
- (b) Manufacture of biodegradable plastics
- (c) Reproductive cloning of animals ✓ UPSC's answer
- (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.