Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
- Genome Sequencing
- Bubble Boy Disease / Severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome
- New norms for taxing MNCs
- Right to Travel Abroad
- Facts for Prelims
1 . Genome Sequencing
Context : In an indigenous genetic mapping effort, nearly 1,000 rural youth from the length and breadth of India will have their genomes sequenced by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
About Genome Sequencing
- The hereditary material of all multi-cellular organisms is the famous double helix of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which contains all of our genes.
- DNA, in turn, is made up of four chemical bases, pairs of which form the “rungs” of the twisted, ladder-shaped DNA molecules. All genes are made up of stretches of these four bases, arranged in different ways and in different lengths.
- HGP researchers have deciphered the human genome in three major ways: determining the order, or “sequence,” of all the bases in our genome’s DNA; making maps that show the locations of genes for major sections of all our chromosomes; and producing what are called linkage maps, complex versions of the type originated in early Drosophila research, through which inherited traits (such as those for genetic disease) can be tracked over generations.
- Genome sequencing is figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome—the order of As, Cs, Gs, and Ts that make up an organism’s DNA. The human genome is made up of over 3 billion of these genetic letters.
About the Project
- The project aims at educating a generation of students on the “usefulness” of genomics.
- The project is an adjunct to a much larger government-led programme, still in the works, to sequence at least 10,000 Indian genomes.
- Typically, those recruited as part of genome-sample collections are representative of the country’s population diversity. In this case, the bulk of them will be college students, both men and women, and pursuing degrees in the life sciences or biology.
- The project would involve the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and cost Rs. 18 crore, with the sequencing to be done at the IGIB and the CCMB.
Methodology
- Genomes will be sequenced based on a blood sample and the scientists plan to hold at least 30 camps covering most States.
- Every person whose genomes are sequenced will be given a report. The participants would be told if they carry gene variants that make them less responsive to certain classes of medicines.
Importance
- Ever since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, it opened a fresh perspective on the link between disease and the unique genetic make-up of each individual.
- Nearly 10,000 diseases — including cystic fibrosis, thalassemia — are known to be the result of a single gene malfunctioning. While genes may render some insensitive to certain drugs, genome sequencing has shown that cancer too can be understood from the viewpoint of genetics, rather than being seen as a disease of certain organs.
2 . Severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome / Bubble Boy Disease
Context : HIV used to fix ‘bubble boy’ disease
About Bubble Boy Disease / Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome (SCID)
- It is a rare genetic disorder characterized by the disturbed development of functional T cells and B cells caused by numerous genetic mutations that result in differing clinical presentations.
- SCID involves defective antibody response due to either direct involvement with B lymphocytes or through improper B lymphocyte activation due to non-functional T-helper cells.
- Consequently, both “arms” (B cells and T cells) of the adaptive immune system are impaired due to a defect in one of several possible genes.
- SCID is the most severe form of primary immunodeficiencies, and there are now at least nine different known genes in which mutations lead to a form of SCID.
- It is also known as the bubble boy disease and bubble baby disease because its victims are extremely vulnerable to infectious diseases
About the Findings
- Eight babies with “bubble boy disease” have had it fixed by a gene therapy made from one of the immune system’s worst enemies HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
3 . New norms for taxing MNCs – Profit Attribution to permanent establishment Report
Context : The income tax department on Thursday proposed a change in the methodology for taxing multinational companies (MNCs), including digital firms, having permanent establishment in India by giving weightage to factors like domestic sales, employee strength, assets and user base.
Details of the Report
- The CBDT Committee on ‘Profit attribution to permanent establishment (PE) in India’ stated in its report that MNCs incurring global losses or a global profit margin of less than 2% and have operations in India will be deemed to have made a profit of 2% of Indian revenue or turnover and will be taxed accordingly.
- An MNC having a fixed place of business in India is considered as having PE in India and is taxed as per domestic laws
- The CBDT committee report has proposed that sales, employees (manpower and wages) and assets in India of a MNC should be taken into account for determining domestic tax liability. In case of digital companies, the weightage will be given to an additional fourth criteria of ‘user’ base, the report said.
4 . Right to travel abroad
Context : The right to travel abroad is a genuine and basic human right like marriage and family, the Supreme Court has observed in a recent order.
Background
- The court was hearing an appeal filed by an IPS officer who was refused permission to take a private trip abroad to visit relatives as he had a departmental enquiry pending against him.
Court Judgement
- The right to travel abroad is an important basic human right for it nourishes independent and self-determining creative character of the individual, not only by extending his freedoms of action, but also by extending the scope of his experience
- Setting aside the order, the Supreme Court referred to its Maneka Gandhi judgment upholding the right to travel and the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of 1958 Kent vs Dulles. The Bench quoted the majority opinion of Justice William O. Douglas in the latter case which said “freedom to go abroad has much social value and represents the basic human right of great significance”.
- The court said that this basic human right “also extends to private life; marriage, family and friendship”. These are part of human nature which can be “rarely affected through a refusal of freedom to go abroad”.
5 . Facts for Prelims
What is Oumuamua
- Oumuamua was the first known object from outside the Solar System to do a fly-by of Earth.