UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ‘ESTIC 2026’ Concludes with a call by Dr Jitendra Singh for transformation through technology;

Q1. ESTIC 2026 grouped systems biology, synthetic biology and AI under 'engineering biology'. In this context, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Systems biology is concerned mainly with constructing new organisms from standard parts, not with modelling how existing biological networks behave.
  2. Synthetic biology seeks to design and build biological systems from constituent parts such as DNA, which makes gene synthesis a foundational capability for it.
  3. Biomanufacturing avoids the scale-up challenge of conventional manufacturing, because engineered organisms replicate on their own once designed.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 2 only

Q2. The agri-food agenda at ESTIC 2026 links the use of gene banks with genome editing for crop improvement. In such a programme, which one of the following best describes the role played by a national gene bank?

  • A. It records yield data of released varieties across agro-climatic zones, so seed multiplication can be planned
  • B. It stores the edited DNA sequences produced in laboratories, so regulators can certify absence of foreign genes
  • C. It conserves seeds of landraces and wild relatives off-site, giving breeders genetic variation to draw upon
  • D. It conserves crop populations within farmers' fields and wild habitats, so they keep evolving under local conditions

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Outcome-oriented research funding typically supports pilot validation and scale-up of technologies, and not only their discovery in the laboratory.
  2. Most technologies that fail do so before proof of concept, at the basic-research stage, which is why translational funding concentrates on early discovery.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct