Advances in biotechnology have dramatically expanded humanity’s ability to understand, manipulate, and deploy biological systems. While these advances promise breakthroughs in health, agriculture, and industry, they also lower the barriers for misuse. In this context, biosecurity has emerged as a critical national security concern, demanding urgent policy attention from India.
What Exactly Is Biosecurity?
Biosecurity refers to the set of policies, practices, and institutional systems aimed at preventing the intentional misuse of biological agents, toxins, or biotechnologies. Its scope is wide-ranging:
- Securing laboratories that handle dangerous pathogens.
- Monitoring research with potential “dual-use” applications.
- Detecting, responding to, and containing deliberate biological outbreaks.
Biosecurity extends beyond human health to include animal and plant health, given the cascading economic and ecological impacts of biological threats. It is distinct from biosafety, which focuses on preventing accidental release of pathogens. However, strong biosafety protocols form the backbone of effective biosecurity.
Global Norms and the Biological Weapons Convention
Concerns over bioweapons led to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) coming into force in 1975. It was the first treaty to comprehensively ban the development, production, stockpiling, and use of biological weapons, and to mandate destruction of existing stockpiles. While overt state-sponsored bioweapons programmes have since declined, technological diffusion has shifted risks towards covert and non-state actors.
Why Biosecurity Matters Especially for India
India’s vulnerability to biological threats stems from several structural factors:
- Its vast population density, amplifying the impact of outbreaks.
- Heavy dependence on agriculture and livestock for livelihoods.
- Long and porous borders, increasing exposure to transboundary bio-risks.
Though India has not experienced a confirmed bioterror attack, incidents such as the alleged preparation of Ricin for terror use highlight the plausibility of such threats. Rapid advances in gene editing, synthetic biology, and pathogen engineering further heighten the risk landscape.
India’s Existing Biosecurity Architecture
India’s bio-risk governance is spread across multiple institutions:
- The Department of Biotechnology oversees research governance and laboratory safety.
- The National Centre for Disease Control handles disease surveillance and outbreak response.
- The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying monitors livestock biosecurity.
- The Plant Quarantine Organisation regulates agricultural bio-risks.
Legally, India relies on instruments such as the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; the Biosafety Rules, 1989; recombinant DNA and biocontainment guidelines (2017); and the WMD Act, 2005, which criminalises biological weapons. The National Disaster Management Authority has also issued guidelines on biological disaster management.
Gaps in the Current Framework
Despite multiple laws and agencies, India lacks a unified national biosecurity framework. Existing regulations were largely designed for an earlier technological era and struggle to address emerging threats from synthetic biology and dual-use research. This fragmentation reflects in outcomes: India ranks 66th on the Global Health Security Index, with improvements in detection capacity but declining preparedness for effective response.
How Other Countries Are Responding
Several countries have moved towards integrated and forward-looking biosecurity models:
- The United States operates under a National Biodefense Strategy integrating health, defence, and biotechnology oversight, supplemented by mandatory screening of synthetic DNA orders.
- The European Union embeds biosecurity within a One Health framework linking human, animal, and environmental health.
- China’s Biosecurity Law treats biotechnology and genetic data as national security assets under centralised control.
- Australia’s Biosecurity Act provides a single legal framework covering human, animal, plant, and synthetic biology risks.
- The UK prioritises biosurveillance and rapid response through its Biological Security Strategy.
The Risks of Inaction
An inadequate biosecurity apparatus carries catastrophic risks — mass casualties, economic disruption, loss of public trust, and strategic vulnerability. For a country of India’s scale, even a limited biological incident could have disproportionate consequences.
The Way Forward for India
India needs a coherent national biosecurity framework that:
- Coordinates across health, agriculture, defence, science, and internal security.
- Updates laws to address synthetic biology and dual-use research.
- Identifies infrastructure, manpower, and surveillance gaps.
- Adopts new tools such as microbial forensics and digital surveillance.
Biosecurity must be treated not merely as a public health issue, but as a core pillar of national security in the biotechnology age.
What to Note for Prelims?
- Difference between biosecurity and biosafety.
- Biological Weapons Convention.
- India’s key biosecurity-related laws and institutions.
- Global Health Security Index.
What to Note for Mains?
- Analyse India’s biosecurity preparedness in the context of emerging biotechnologies.
- Discuss the need for a unified national biosecurity framework.
- Evaluate biosecurity as a non-traditional security challenge.
- Compare India’s approach with international biosecurity models.
