eChapters

1. Introduction

Gender remains a critically important and largely ignored lens to view development issues across the world (Jayaraman, 2017). Gender inequality is the greatest human rights challenge of our time and also a critical economic, moral and social challenge (UN, 2015). There exists a significant gender gap in various sectors such as health, labour market opportunities, education and political representation all over the world. This mostly cause the restriction of women to stay at home for household chores. However, the associated disempowerment resulting from the adverse effects of restricting their way around outside world are seldom addressed in the development evaluation and monitoring processes (UNICEF, 2019). Therefore, gender equality and women empowerment are made explicit throughout the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Drawing urgency to these efforts, SDG5 aims on full gender equality and women empowerment as a cross-cutting theme along with more than 30 related targets across other SDGs.

According to FAO (2011), rural women constitute about 43 percent of world’s agricultural labour force and are the agents of change and resilience builders. Even then they undergo greater constraints compared to the men counterparts in accessing technological interventions, productive resources, market information, services and financial assets. The contribution of women to food security often remains undervalued and invisible (FAO, 2011). This leads to inadequate reflection of women’s role in policy, legal and institutional frameworks. These have created difficult situations for them to address the multiple tasks of natural resource management, child rearing and family well-being, without more rural women inclusive development interventions. There would be a drastic reduction in the number of hungry population and malnourished children in the world if women had the same access as men to productive resources which in

turn helps to increase yields on their farms significantly (FAO, 2018). Furthermore, they are also under-represented in grassroot level institutions and administrative mechanisms and assumed to have less decision-making ability. In addition to these constraints, women face an imprudent work burden, at the same time much of their labour remains unpaid and unrecognized under the prevailing gender norms and discrimination. It is high time to include them in decision making process within the households, communities and institutions and thus to enhance women’s participation in governance (Bayeh, 2016).

1. Introduction

The intricate relationship between agriculture and women has been widely featured in the development discourse for long. Globally, more than 400 million women are engaged in farm work directly or indirectly. In other words, 42 per cent of economically active women are engaged in agriculture and they comprise about 43 per cent of the total workforce in agriculture (Dash and Srinath, 2013). In India, agriculture and allied sectors continue to be the most immediate avenues of employment and income for about 160 million rural women who work as farmers, co-farmers, farm labourers and farm entrepreneurs (Oxfam 2017; Sadangi et al., 2009). It is estimated that about 65 per cent of rural women workers are engaged in agriculture as cultivators and agricultural labourers in the country as opposed to 49.8 per cent of male workers. In these capacities, women perform multiple tasks such as land preparation, sowing, transplantation, harvesting and rearing of animals. Most of these operations are labour intensive and not mechanized (Pachauri, 2019). Besides, they are engaged in off-farm domestic activities such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, water and fuel collection and community activities. Shrinking remunerative opportunities in the farming sector has triggered migration of rural male folk to urban areas and also there is a shift in their job priorities to pursue employment in the rural non-farm sector in recent years. Since women did not feature predominantly in either of these trends, most of them are still engaged in agriculture, mostly as labourers and cultivators (Mehrotra, 2020). Vindicated by the fact that the number of female agricultural labourers in India increased by 24 per cent between 2001 and 2011, even though 7.7 million farmers left farming during the corresponding period. During the period when up to 34 per cent of men in rural areas migrated in search of employment and better economic opportunities, the corresponding figure for rural women is merely 3.6 per cent. A recent study of National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) found that 55 per cent of employed women in India

Today, health promotion of the poor has emerged, worldwide, as a vital area for policy research and action. Healthcare is the responsibility of the constituent states and territories of India.

Food security: Gender dimensions

Standards have improved gradually over a period of years. But the burden of ill health is borne disproportionately by different population subgroups and people of lower socio-economic status, especially women, as they consistently experience poor health outcomes. Gender inequality leads to food insecurity and is also its leading cause. National food security is largely dependent on agricultural sector. The FAO articulates that food security is achieved when people at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life.

Rural women rarely own a control land and lack access to agricultural inputs, technology, training, extension services and marketing services. Despite being major contributors to agricultural production, they have little or no access to the means of production. They face restrictions in mobility due to social conditions, hence face a narrower range of labour markets than men including harsh working conditions and lower wage rates.

11.1 Introduction

Gendered Advancements utilize strategies of sex and intersectional investigation to form modern information. It looks to saddle the inventive control of this sort of examination for advancement and revelation. The agent's address is, do considering these components include important measurements to investigate? Do they take research in unused bearings? To reply to these questions, Gendered Developments creates down-to-earth strategies of sex, sexual orientation, and intersectional examination for researchers and gives case ponders as concrete outlines of how this sort of investigation leads to revelation and advancement.

Quantitative traits are governed by many genes or polygenes genes with small individual effects. They are often described by their gene action rather than by the number of genes by which they are governed. There are four types of gene action: additive, dominance, epistasis, and overdominance. Because gene effects do not always fall into clear-cut categories, and it should be pointed out that gene action is conceptually the same for major genes as well as minor genes, the essential difference being that the action of a minor gene is small and significantly influenced by the environment. A general way of distinguishing between these types of gene action based on interaction among alleles is as follows:

A population, in the genetic sense, is not just a group of individuals, but a breeding group and the genetics of a population is concerned not only with the genetic constitution of the individuals but also with the transmission of the genes from one generation to the next. In the transmission the genotypes of the parents are broken-down and a newest of genotypes is constituted in the progeny, from the genes transmitted in the gametes. The genes carried by the population thus have continuity from generation to generation, but the genotypes in which they appear do not. The genetic constitution of a population, referring to the genes it carries, is described by the array of gene frequencies, that is, by specification of the alleles present at every locus and the numbers of proportions of the different alleles at each locus. If for example, A1 is an allele at the A locus, then the frequency of A1, is the proportion or percentage of all genes at this locus that are the A1 allele. The frequencies of all the allele at any one locus must add up to unity, or 100 percent.
The gene frequencies at a particular locus among a group of individuals can be determined from knowledge of the genotype frequencies. To take a hypothetical suppose there are two alleles A1 and A2, let the frequencies of genes and of genotypes be as follows:

Gene Frequency

A population, in the genetic sense, is not just a group of individuals, but a breeding group and the genetics of a population is concerned not only with the genetic constitution of the individuals but also with the transmission of the genes from one generation to the next. In the transmission the genotypes of the parents are broken-down and a newest of genotypes is constituted in the progeny, from the genes transmitted in the gametes. The genes carried by the population thus have continuity from generation to generation, but the genotypes in which they appear do not. The genetic constitution of a population, referring to the genes it carries, is described by the array of gene frequencies, that is, by specification of the alleles present at every locus and the numbers of proportions of the different alleles at each locus. If for example, A1 is an allele at the A locus, then the frequency of A1, is the proportion or percentage of all genes at this locus that are the A1 allele. The frequencies of all the allele at any one locus must add up to unity, or 100 percent. 

The genetic blueprint contained in the nucleotide sequence can determine the phenotype of an individual. The hereditary units, which are transmitted from one generation to the next generation are called genes. A gene is a fundamental biological unit like atom which is the fundamental physical unit.
Mendel was the first scientist who proposed genes as particulate units and called them hereditary elements or factors. But the concept of gene has undergone a considerable change since Mendel’s time.
Modern Concept of Gene
A gene can be described as a polynucleotide chain, which is a segment of DNA. It is a functional unit controlling a particular trait such as eye colour. Beadle and Tatum concluded by various experiments that gene is a segment of DNA that codes for one enzyme. They proposed one gene-one enzyme hypothesis. But as some genes code for proteins that are not enzymes, the definition of gene was changed to one gene-one protein hypothesis.
Protein Hypothesis
The concept of gene has undergone further changes as the new facts came to light. Since proteins are polypeptide chains of amino acids translated by mRNA, gene was defined as one gene-one polypeptide relationship.
Some proteins have two or more different kinds of polypeptide chains, each with a different amino acid sequence. They are products of different genes. For example, hemoglobin has two kinds of chains a andß chains, which differ in amino acid sequence and length. They are encoded by different genes. Thus, gene is defined as one gene- one polypeptide relationship.

Introduction
As global demand for seafood and high-protein foods grows, aquaculture has become a vital, fast-growing sector in food production. Fish farming supports food security, livelihoods, and nutrition worldwide but faces challenges like disease outbreaks, low growth rates, inefficient feed conversion, and limited genetic diversity. To address these issues, genetic improvement has become a key focus, enhancing farmed species’ resilience, productivity, and sustainability. Traditional breeding methods have driven genetic advancements, yet modern biotechnologies, particularly gene editing, now offer transformative potential (Gjedrem et al., 2012). Gene editing enables precise DNA modifications, enhancing desired traits without adding foreign genes. CRISPR-Cas9 TALENs (Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases) and ZFNs (Zinc Finger Nucleases) are vital tools. Among these, CRISPR-Cas9 has gained particular prominence due to its simplicity, affordability, and high specificity (Doudna & Charpentier, 2014). In aquaculture, gene editing can increase disease resistance, accelerate growth rates, and improve feed conversion efficiency— each vital for production efficiency and environmental sustainability (Yáñez et al., 2020). Despite its promise, gene editing in aquaculture faces technical, ethical, and regulatory challenges. Issues such as off-target effects, public acceptance, regulatory diversity, and animal welfare concerns impact the adoption of gene-edited fish in food production (Van Eenennaam & Young, 2017). This chapter explores gene editing’s transformative role in aquaculture, assessing strategies to enhance disease resistance, growth, feed efficiency, and regulatory and ethical considerations. By understanding gene editing’s current landscape, stakeholders can evaluate its potential to support sustainable aquaculture and food security worldwide.

General Effect of Mutation

Gene mutations are molecular changes in the DNA sequence of a gene

Gene mutations can alter the coding sequence within a gene

Gene mutations are also given names that describe how they affect the wild-type genotype and phenotype

Gene mutations can occur outside of the coding sequence and still influence gene expression

DNA sequences known as trinucleotide repeats may cause mutation

Changes in chromosome structure can affect the expression of a gene

Mutations can occur in germ line or somatic cells

ABSTRACT

The coastal ecosystem happens to be one of the most productive ecosystems. This ecosystem has been under different kinds of threats such as climate change and consequent rise in sea level, increase in population and depletion of natural resources. All this has given rise to an increase in the level of abiotic stresses such as salinity, alkalinity, and drought affecting the agricultural productivity in the coastal region. Salinization is posing an increasing problem in coastal and agricultural areas reducing plant productivity and yield. Salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses decreasing the plant productivity.

Salinity is a significant factor limiting agricultural productivity and affecting about 9x 10⁸ hectares worldwide. Poor quality of water for irrigation and current unsustainable irrigation practices has significantly resulted in salinization and other forms of soil damage. About one third of all irrigated land is affected by salt due to secondary salinization. It is estimated that 50% of all arable land will be salinized by the year 2050. The problem of secondary salinization is also becoming more serious as it represents loss of highly productive lands. Added to this is the problem of coastal salinity where intrusion of seawater into arable land due to erosion of coastal habitat has rendered it unsuitable for cultivation. Salt-affected soils (~11 million ha in South and Southeast Asia) are found along coastlines or in inland areas where evaporation is greater than precipitation.

Regulator Genes

Bacterial cells are capable of producing many kinds of enzymes in relatively large quantities but the kinds and amount of enzymes actually produced at any given time are usually those which are required at that particular time in response to the prevailing environment. Inducible enzymes are ordinarily absent or present in very small quantities until a specific compound appears. This compound is called as inducer. A typical example of this is production of b galactosidase (an enzyme that splits lactose into galactose and glucose, Fig. 44.1) once the lactose is introduced into the medium on which E. coli cells are grown. Here lactose acts as inducer for the enzyme b galactosidase.

Introduction
Gene tagging is a fundamental technique in molecular biology and genetics that allows researchers to identify, track and study specific genes within a complex genome. By attaching a recognizable marker or tag to a gene of interest scientists can monitor its expression, location, and function in various biological contexts. This technique has revolutionized genetic research and has numerous applications in biotechnology, medicine and agriculture. Several methodologies have been developed for gene tagging, each with unique advantages and applications. Transposon tagging uses transposable elements to insert marker genes into the genome, creating mutations that can reveal gene function. Reporter gene tagging involves inserting genes like green fluorescent protein (GFP) or beta-galactosidase (lacZ) near the gene of interest allowing researchers to monitor gene expression visually or through enzymatic activity. Epitope tagging involves fusing short peptide sequences to the target gene’s protein which can be detected using specific antibodies, facilitating studies of protein localization and interactions. The advent of the CRISPR/Cas9 system has further refined gene tagging enabling precise insertion of tags at specific genomic locations with high accuracy

Overview of Transcription

Gene expression requires base sequences that perform different functional roles

The three stages of transcription are initiation, elongation, and termination

RNA transcripts have different functions Transcription in Bacteria

A promoter is a short sequence of DNA that is necessary to initiate transcription

Bacterial transcription is initiated when RNA polymerase holoenzyme binds at a promoter sequence

The RNA transcript is synthesized during the elongation stage

Transcription is terminated by either an RNA-binding protein or an intrinsic terminator

The transfer foreign gene to the plant cell is a very crucial method to production of transgenic plant. So improvement of plant quality requires to transfer our interest gene or we can say useful for production of our interest product. To achieve genetic transformation in plants, we need the construction of a vector (genetic vehicle) which transports the genes of interest, flanked by the necessary controlling sequences i.e. promoter and terminator, and deliver the genes into the host plant. The two kinds of gene transfer methods in plants are.

1. Vector-mediated or Indirect Gene Transfer

Among the various vectors used in plant transformation, the Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been widely used. This bacteria is known as “natural genetic engineer” of plants because these bacteria have natural ability to transfer T-DNA of their plasmids into plant genome upon infection of cells at the wound site and cause an unorganized growth of a cell mass known as crown gall. Ti plasmids are used as gene vectors for delivering useful foreign genes into target plant cells and tissues. The foreign gene is cloned in the T-DNA region of Ti-plasmid in place of unwanted sequences.

To transform plants, leaf discs (in case of dicots) or embryogenic callus (in case of monocots) are collected and infected with Agrobacterium carrying recombinant disarmed Ti-plasmid vector. The infected tissue is then cultured (co-cultivation) on shoot regeneration medium for 2-3 days during which time the transfer of T-DNA along with foreign genes takes place. After this, the transformed tissues (leaf discs/calli) are transferred onto selection cum plant regeneration medium supplemented with usually lethal concentration of an antibiotic to selectively eliminate non-transformed tissues. After 3-5 weeks, the regenerated shoots (from leaf discs) are transferred to root-inducing medium, and after another 3-4 weeks, complete plants are transferred to soil following the hardening (acclimatization) of regenerated plants. The molecular techniques like PCR and southern hybridization are used to detect the presence of foreign genes in the transgenic plants.

4.1. Multiple Choice Questions

1. GoI has indicated ??? crop will be introduced without evaluating biosafety and socioeconomic desirability.
   1. GM
   2. Organic
   3. Rabi
   4. Kharif
2. ??? is AGRI UDAAN.
   1. Food and agribusiness initiative
   2. Food and agribusiness accelerator
   3. Food and agribusiness incubator
   4. Both b and c
   5. All the above
3. Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare launched --------------------------------------?? quality mark logo at New Delhi.
   1. National Dairy Development Board
   2. National Dairy Development Authority
   3. National Dairy Development Authority
   4. National Dairy Development Programme
4. --------------------------------------?? state is leading in the production of litchi.
   1. Bihar

INTRODUCTION

Anatomy is the branch of biological science which deals with the form and structure of organisms. The word “Anatomy” is derived from Greek, means cutting apart (Ana –separate, tomy-cut).

The study with unaided eye is Gross Anatomy / Macroscopic anatomy while the study of finer details of structure with the aid of a Microscope is Histology / Microscopic Anatomy.

General anesthesia : reversible complete loss of consciousness along with analgesia. 
  Unconsciousness occurs due to depressant action or functional disruption by stimulation in brain by anesthetic agents.
  Analgesia is probably due to blockade of synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord.