UPSC Science and Technology – Chapter 10: Genomics, Stem Cells, Reproductive Technology and Bioethics (25 MCQs)

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UPSC Science and Technology – Chapter 10: Genomics, Stem Cells, Reproductive Technology and Bioethics (25 MCQs) – 25 questions, subject: Science & Technology. Every question has the correct answer with a one-line explanation; tap "Show Answer". Free practice for TNPSC, UPSC, SSC, Bank and RRB exams – Shanmugam IAS Academy, Coimbatore.

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1.  

The Human Genome Project was completed in:

Correct Answer: A [2003]

Explanation:

The international Human Genome Project, begun in 1990, announced the completed human genome sequence in April 2003.

2.  

Induced pluripotent stem cells are produced by:

Correct Answer: C [reprogramming adult cells]

Explanation:

Yamanaka, 2006.

3.  

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood are best described as:

Correct Answer: A [multipotent]

Explanation:

Cord-blood stem cells can form a related family of blood cells, so they are multipotent adult-type stem cells.

4.  

Under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, India permits:

Correct Answer: D [altruistic surrogacy only]

Explanation:

The 2021 Act bans commercial surrogacy and permits only altruistic surrogacy, with no payment beyond medical costs and insurance.

5.  

NexCAR19, approved in India in 2023, is a:

Correct Answer: A [CAR-T cell therapy for cancer]

Explanation:

NexCAR19 re-engineers a patient's own T cells to attack CD19-positive B-cell cancers; CDSCO approved it in October 2023.

6.  

The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for work on:

Correct Answer: A [genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution]

Explanation:

Svante Pääbo.

7.  

Dolly the sheep, born in 1996, was produced by:

Correct Answer: B [somatic cell nuclear transfer]

Explanation:

Dolly was made by placing an adult udder-cell nucleus into an enucleated egg, which is somatic cell nuclear transfer.

8.  

Pre-implantation genetic testing for sex selection is banned in India under the:

Correct Answer: D [PCPNDT Act, 1994]

Explanation:

The PCPNDT Act, 1994 prohibits sex selection before or after conception, including through pre-implantation genetic testing.

9.  

Casgevy, approved in 2023 abroad, is a CRISPR-based therapy for:

Correct Answer: B [sickle-cell disease and beta-thalassaemia]

Explanation:

Casgevy edits blood stem cells to switch on fetal haemoglobin, treating sickle-cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassaemia.

10.  

Consider the following statements:

1. Somatic gene therapy changes are not inherited.
2. Mitochondrial replacement therapy gives a child DNA from three people.
3. Totipotent cells can form only one type of cell.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Correct Answer: B [1 and 2 only]

Explanation:

Somatic changes stay in the patient and MRT adds donor mitochondrial DNA, but totipotent cells form every cell type.

11.  

Assertion (A): iPSCs reduce the ethical objections to stem-cell research.

Reason (R): iPSCs are made from adult cells without destroying embryos.

Correct Answer: A [Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A]

Explanation:

iPSCs come from reprogrammed adult cells, so no embryo is destroyed; this is exactly why ethical objections fall.

12.  

The world's first cloned buffalo calves were produced at:

Correct Answer: D [NDRI, Karnal]

Explanation:

The National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal produced the world's first cloned buffalo calf in February 2009, followed by Garima.

13.  

Pharmacogenomics is the study of:

Correct Answer: B [how a person's genes affect the response to drugs]

Explanation:

Pharmacogenomics links a person's gene variants to how they respond to drugs, guiding the choice of drug and dose.

14.  

The established, routine stem-cell therapy in India today is:

Correct Answer: B [bone-marrow (haematopoietic stem cell) transplant]

Explanation:

Haematopoietic stem cell (bone-marrow) transplant is an established treatment for blood cancers and thalassaemia; most other uses remain trials.

15.  

India's first IVF baby, born in 1978, was associated with the work of:

Correct Answer: C [Subhas Mukhopadhyay]

Explanation:

Dr Subhas Mukhopadhyay of Kolkata led the work behind Durga, India's first IVF baby, born in October 1978.

16.  

The National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission aims to eliminate the disease as a public-health problem by:

Correct Answer: B [2047]

Explanation:

Launched on 1 July 2023 at Shahdol, the mission aims to eliminate sickle-cell disease as a public-health problem by 2047.

17.  

Arrange the following in chronological order:

1. Birth of Dolly the sheep
2. ART and Surrogacy Acts in India
3. Birth of the first IVF baby
4. Completion of the Human Genome Project

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct Answer: C [3-1-4-2]

Explanation:

1978, 1996, 2003, 2021.

18.  

Genetic data of individuals in India is protected as personal data under the:

Correct Answer: D [Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023]

Explanation:

The DPDP Act, 2023 covers any digital data about an identifiable individual, which includes a person's genetic data.

19.  

Mitochondrial replacement therapy is meant to prevent:

Correct Answer: D [inherited mitochondrial diseases]

Explanation:

MRT replaces the mother's faulty mitochondria with a donor's healthy ones, stopping mitochondrial disease passing to the child.

20.  

Which country legalised mitochondrial replacement therapy in 2015?

Correct Answer: C [United Kingdom]

Explanation:

The UK Parliament approved regulations permitting mitochondrial donation in 2015, the first country to do so.

21.  
UPSC Prelims 2021

In the context of hereditary diseases, consider the following statements:

1. Passing on mitochondrial diseases from parent to child can be prevented by mitochondrial replacement therapy either before or after in vitro fertilization of the egg.
2. A child inherits mitochondrial diseases entirely from mother and not from father.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Correct Answer: C [Both 1 and 2]

Explanation:

MRT can be done before fertilisation (spindle transfer) or after it (pronuclear transfer), and mitochondria come only from the mother.

22.  
UPSC Prelims 2020

Consider the following statements:

1. Genetic changes can be introduced in the cells that produce eggs or sperms of a prospective parent.
2. A person's genome can be edited before birth at the early embryonic stage.
3. Human induced pluripotent stem cells can be injected into the embryo of a pig.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Correct Answer: D [1, 2 and 3]

Explanation:

all three have been achieved.

23.  
UPSC Prelims 2020

In the context of recent advances in human reproductive technology, "Pronuclear Transfer" is used for

Correct Answer: D [Prevention of mitochondrial diseases in offspring]

Explanation:

Pronuclear transfer moves the parents' pronuclei into a donor zygote with healthy mitochondria, preventing mitochondrial disease.

24.  
UPSC Prelims 2019

The word 'Denisovan' is sometimes mentioned in media in reference to:

Correct Answer: B [an early human species.]

Explanation:

Denisovans are an extinct archaic human group identified in 2010 from DNA in a finger bone from Denisova Cave, Siberia.

25.  
UPSC Prelims 2017

What is the application of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Technology?

Correct Answer: C [Reproductive cloning of animals]

Explanation:

SCNT puts a body-cell nucleus into an enucleated egg to make a genetic copy of an animal, as with Dolly.

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