Question

Read the following statements.
(a) In 1997, an American company got patent rights on Basmati rice through the International Patent and Trademark office.
(b) There are an estimated 50,000 varieties of rice in India alone.
(c) First clinical gene therapy was given in 1990 to a 4-year old girl with adenosine deaminase deficiency.
(d) In 1983, Eli Lilly Company prepared DNA sequences corresponding to A, B and C chains of human insulin.

In these, how many are incorrect statements?

• A. 4
• B. 3
• C. 2
• D. None

Answer 1

The correct option is B 3

Statement A
The USA company RiceTec filed patents for lines of Basmati and Basmati-like rice and ways of selecting that rice for breeding in 1997. After winning the patent through the US patent office, the company was allowed to sell a ‘new’ variety of Basmati, in the US and abroad.
Hence, statement A is incorrect.

Statement B
India alone has 200,000 rice varieties. Hence, statement B is incorrect.

Statement C
The first gene therapy was performed on a 4-year-old girl in 1990 for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. She was treated with the functional copy of the adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene.
Hence, statement C is correct.

Statement D
Eli Lilly, an American company in 1983, produced recombinant human insulin by cloning and expressing DNA sequences of A and B chains of human insulin separately in E. coli.
Hence, statement D is incorrect.

Final answer
b. 3