pyq/2020/csat/44

Passage – 3

Genome editing is different from genome modification. Genome editing typically involves finding the part of a plant genome that could be changed to render it less vulnerable to disease, or resistant to certain herbicides, or to increase yields. Researchers use ‘molecular scissors’ to dissects the genome and repair it, which is a process that occurs naturally when plants are under attack from diseases and can throw up new mutations that enable the plant to survive future attacks. This evolutionary process can effectively be speeded up now that it is possible to examine plant genome in detail in laboratories, and create mechanisms through which the relevant genes can be altered very precisely.

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

1. Genome editing does not require the transfer of genes from one plant to another.

2. Through genome editing, the chosen genes can be altered precisely in a manner akin to the natural process that helps plants to adapt to the environmental factors.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

(A) 1 only

(B) 2 only

(C) Both 1 and 2

(D) Neither 1 nor 2