UPSC CARE Mains Practice 13th February 2026
Mains Practice Questions for the Day
- Discuss the need for establishing an Indian Scientific Service (ISS) in India’s governance framework. (GS III: Science & Technology in governance, environmental governance)
- Nuclear power is considered a crucial option for meeting India’s rising energy demand in a low-carbon transition. Critically examine. (GS Paper 3 – Science & Technology / Energy)
Discuss the need for establishing an Indian Scientific Service (ISS) in India’s governance framework. (GS III: Science & Technology in governance, environmental governance)
Introduction:
India’s administrative system was designed after Independence to ensure stability through generalist civil services. However, modern governance increasingly involves complex scientific and technological challenges, necessitating institutional integration of scientific expertise.
Body
India’s administrative system was designed after Independence to ensure stability through generalist civil services. However, modern governance increasingly involves complex scientific and technological challenges, necessitating institutional integration of scientific expertise.
Need for Indian Scientific Service
- Complex Nature of Modern Governance
- Climate change, pandemics, AI regulation, and environmental risks require specialised knowledge.
- Administrator–Scientist Gap
- Scientists lack structured career progression and authority within government systems.
- Limitations of Existing Rules
- Central Civil Services rules emphasise hierarchy rather than scientific inquiry.
- Scientific inputs remain advisory.
- Reactive Use of Science
- Scientific expertise used mainly during crises instead of continuous policymaking.
- Global Best Practices
- Advanced democracies maintain scientific cadres ensuring evidence-based decisions.
Features of ISS
- All-India scientific cadre.
- Recruitment through national selection and peer evaluation.
- Placement within ministries and regulatory bodies.
- Protection of scientific integrity.
- Clear separation between advice and political decision-making.
Benefits
- Evidence-based policymaking
- Improved risk assessment
- Better climate and environmental governance
- Strengthened disaster preparedness
- Enhanced policy transparency and public trust.
Challenges
- Coordination between administrators and scientists.
- Avoiding bureaucratic duplication.
- Maintaining accountability within democratic governance.
Conclusion:
The Indian Scientific Service would represent an evolution of India’s administrative framework by combining administrative efficiency with scientific reasoning, enabling resilient and future-ready governance.
Recent advances in genome editing indicate a shift from disease-specific treatment to mutation-class therapy. Discuss with reference to the new prime-editing strategy. (GS Paper III – Science & Technology, Advances in genetic engineering)
Introduction:
Genetic disorders frequently arise due to mutations that disrupt normal protein synthesis. Among them, nonsense mutations, which introduce premature stop codons, account for nearly 25% of all disease-causing genetic changes. Traditionally, treatment strategies target individual diseases separately, making therapy development slow, expensive, and limited in reach. Recent advances in genome editing using prime editing–based engineered tRNA systems signal a transition toward mutation-class therapy.
Body
Background: The Challenge
- Nonsense mutations prematurely halt protein production.
- Result in incomplete or non-functional proteins leading to disorders such as Batten disease, Tay-Sachs disease, and Niemann-Pick disease.
- Conventional gene therapy requires correcting each mutation individually.
- Regulatory approval and development costs increase significantly
The Prime-Editing Strategy
The new approach employs prime editing, a precise genome-editing technique that rewrites genetic instructions without creating harmful DNA breaks.
Mechanism:
- Scientists engineered transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules known as suppressor tRNAs.
- These modified tRNAs recognise premature stop codons and insert amino acids instead of terminating translation.
- This enables cells to continue protein synthesis and produce functional proteins.
The strategy, termed PERT (Prime-Editing-mediated Readthrough of Premature Termination codons), effectively converts cellular machinery into a therapeutic tool.
Key Findings
- Editing efficiency reached 60–80%, significantly higher than traditional homology-directed repair methods.
- Natural stop signals remained unaffected, indicating biological precision.
- Delivery through AAV9 viral vectors restored protein activity in multiple organs in mouse models.
- Improved disease pathology observed without major toxicity.
Significance: Shift to Mutation-Class Therapy
- One therapeutic platform can treat multiple diseases caused by the same mutation type.
- Reduces time and cost of drug development.
- Expands treatment possibilities for rare genetic disorders.
- Represents advancement beyond conventional CRISPR-based editing.
Challenges and Concerns
- Safe and efficient delivery in humans.
- Long-term genetic stability and monitoring.
- Ethical and regulatory considerations.
- Variable effectiveness across tissues.
Way Forward
Future research must focus on improving delivery technologies, conducting clinical trials, and establishing regulatory frameworks to ensure safe therapeutic application.
Conclusion:
The prime-editing–based genome-editing strategy marks a paradigm shift from disease-specific correction to scalable mutation-class therapy. If successfully translated into clinical practice, it could revolutionise precision medicine by enabling broader and more cost-effective treatment of genetic disorders.