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India becomes the first country in world to develop Genome-edited rice varieties

Posted 05 May 2025

2 min read

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed India’s first genome-edited rice varieties named as DRR Rice 100 (Kamla) and Pusa DST Rice.

  • These new varieties were developed using Genome editing technology based on CRISPR-Cas, which makes precise changes in the organism's genetic material without adding foreign DNA.
    • Genome editing of Site Directed Nuclease 1 (SDN1) and SDN 2 types of genes has been approved under India's biosafety regulations for general crops.
  • ICAR developed these verities with the support of the National Agricultural Science Fund (NASF).
    • NASF supports basic and strategic research in agriculture.
Image showing benefit of the Genome-edited Rice Varieties

About Genome-edited Rice Varieties

  • DRR Dhan 100 Kamala
    • Developed by ICAR–IIRR(Indian Institute of Rice Research ),Hyderabad.
    • It is improvement of ‘Samba Mahsuri’ by targeting the CKX2 (Cytokinin Oxidase 2) gene.
      • A cytokinin is a plant hormone that influences growth and the stimulation of cell division.
  • Pusa DST Rice 1
    • Developed by ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.
    • This variety is an improved version of the fine-grain rice MTU1010 (Cottondora Sannalu).

About Site Directed Nuclease (SDN) 

  • SDN-1: A site-directed mutagenesis without using a DNA sequence template.
  • SDN-2: A site-directed mutagenesis using a DNA sequence template.
  • SDN-3: A site-directed insertion of gene/large DNA sequence using a DNA sequence template.
  • Tags :
  • Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
  • Genome Edited Rice Varieties
  • Site Directed Nuclease (SDN)
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