Gene banks

Gene banks

Subject: Science and Technology

Context :  Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the world’s second-largest refurbished state-of-the-art National Gene Bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Pusa, New Delhi.

Concept:

• Gene banks are a type of biorepository that preserves genetic material. Gene banks exist to conserve the genetic diversity of wild and domesticated organisms that humans depend on for food, fiber, medicine & energy
• Types of Gene Banks are Seed Bank, Tissue Bank, Cryo Bank, Pollen Bank ,Field gene Bank , Sperm Bank, Ova Bank
• Gene bank for plants is done by in vitro storage, freezing cuttings from the plant, or stocking the seeds (e.g. in a seedbank). Gene bank for animals is done by the freezing of sperm and eggs in zoological freezers until further need. Gene bank for corals is done by  fragments are taken and stored in water tanks under controlled conditions
• Maintaining material in gene banks is often termed ‘ex situ conservation’ which is defined as ‘the conservation of components of biodiversity outside their natural habitats’
• The National Gene Bank established in the year 1996 to preserve the seeds of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations, has the capacity to preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds.

Applications

• Maintain the genetic integrity of its accessions
• Make the accessions easily available to users of germplasm
• Provide the raw material for plant breeding and basic biological research – Accessions of crop wild relatives are particularly valuable as sources of gene providers
• Provide germplasm for restoration of lost crops after natural or man- made catastrophes
• To conserve the Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations in the form of seeds, genomic resources, pollen etc