Topic
biotechnology
Commodities India's gene-edited Pusa Rice DST1 set for commercial rabi season release
India developed two genome-edited rice varieties, DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) and Pusa Rice DST1, in 2025. The government is set to release Pusa Rice DST1 for commercial production in the upcoming rabi season, with transplanting around November. ICAR reports yield advantages of 9.66% to 30.4% for the drought- and salt-tolerant variety.
Commodities India Set to Plant World's First Gene-Edited Rice Variety This Rabi Season
India's ICAR is set to sign an MoU with Corteva this month to commercially release Pusa DST Rice 1, the world's first gene-edited rice variety. The variety, developed by IARI, will undergo seed multiplication in the upcoming rabi season, with transplanting expected around November. Field trials showed significantly higher yields than the parent line MTU1010 under salinity and alkalinity stress.
Commodities ICAR unveils India's first fully annotated T2T pigeonpea genome to speed pulse breeding
ICAR has developed India's first fully annotated telomere-to-telomere (T2T) reference genome of pigeonpea variety 'Asha', spanning 752.65 million base pairs across all 11 chromosomes. The milestone, deposited in NCBI as NIPB_CcT2T_4, is expected to accelerate climate-resilient, high-yielding pulse breeding and support India's Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses.
Regulations & Compliance Indian industry seeks legal backing of gene editing in proposed Seed Bill
The Hindu BusinessLine reported that India may formally adopt gene editing in the proposed Seed Bill to avoid the GM crop experience. The government has finalised the Bill with Parliament approval pending, while ASSOCHAM recommended scaling gene editing and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh objected to the term 'transgenic'.
Manufacturing Arboreal Bioinnovations Raises ₹230 Crore Series A for Factory Expansion and R&D
Arboreal Bioinnovations, a specialty food and nutraceutical ingredients technology company, has raised ₹230 crore in Series A funding led by EAAA (Edelweiss alternatives arm) with participation from Omnivore and Rainmatter. The company will use the capital to expand manufacturing capacity, strengthen R&D, and accelerate commercialisation of next-generation ingredients including proteins, sweeteners, and fibres.
Scientists Use AI and Quantum Computing to Generate New Peptides in Spare Time
Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark used a hybrid AI-quantum computing system to generate novel peptides, achieving better results than classical models especially with limited data. The work, done on weekends with leftover funds, could accelerate personalized immunotherapies and vaccines.
TNAU patents high-yield eco-friendly cadambine extraction method from Kadamba tree
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has secured a patent for a novel method to isolate and quantify cadambine from the Kadamba tree. The process delivers a 93-94% recovery yield while significantly reducing solvent consumption, waste generation, and processing time.
Technology A Startup Is Using Special Polymers to Better Help Nerves Heal
Tissium, a French startup, has developed a biodegradable polymer liquid that attaches to nerve tissue when exposed to light, acting as a splint to hold severed nerves in place. In a US trial of 12 patients with finger nerve injuries, all regained sensation, compared to roughly 80% with standard methods. The company has raised €60 million to commercialize the product and expand to hernia and cardiovascular applications.
Lessons from the Green Revolution: India's Bio Revolution Must Avoid Past Mistakes on Quality and Balance
India's Green Revolution achieved food security but caused soil degradation due to imbalanced fertiliser use. As the country embraces a Bio Revolution with biological inputs, the article warns against repeating past errors, emphasising quality assurance and stewardship.
British Space Startup Mass Balance Launches Autonomous Longevity Lab Into Orbit on SpaceX
British startup Mass Balance launched a self-run chemical laboratory into orbit on a SpaceX transporter to study disease-causing proteins under microgravity. The grapefruit-sized pod will autonomously measure cell behavior and beam data back to Earth, aiming to generate training data for AI models like AlphaFold to improve predictions for age-related diseases.
CRC-Screen: Certified DNA-Synthesis Hazard Screening Under Taxonomic Shift Published on arXiv
A new paper on arXiv presents CRC-Screen, a certified hazard screening method for DNA-synthesis orders. The approach fuses three signals under Conformal Risk Control to maintain a provable bound on expected false-negative rate even when hazardous sequences come from taxonomic families absent from the reference set. Empirical results show 0% test miss rate across folds and 0% false-flag rate on nine of ten taxonomic holdout folds.