Question

What is NDM-1?

• A. National Defence Missile 1, developed by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as a part of the comprehensive missile shield for India.
• B. A bacterial gene called New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1, dubbed the 'superbug' because of it being resistant to most antibiotics.
• C. New Directions in Management 1, the first among a series of international conferences on Management, to be inaugurated by Bill Gates in Mumbai in January 2012.
• D. A vision document on Disaster Management, released by Planning Commission.

Hint:

It is a drug resistance gene in bacteria, named after India's capital, not a missile or a conference.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

NDM-1, short for New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1, refers to a gene carried by some bacteria that lets them produce an enzyme breaking down carbapenem antibiotics, the group of drugs doctors usually rely on when other antibiotics fail. Bacteria with this gene turn resistant to nearly every antibiotic in common use, which is why news reports in 2010 called it a superbug. Researchers first flagged it in a Lancet Infectious Diseases paper published in August 2010 after tracing infected patients back to medical treatment received in India, mostly around Delhi, and that link gave the gene its name. The name sparked a diplomatic and public health row in India, since officials felt the country was being unfairly branded even though similar resistant strains later turned up in patients across many other nations.

The three remaining options do not correspond to anything real in this context. No DRDO missile programme is called National Defence Missile 1, no management summit titled New Directions in Management 1 was inaugurated by Bill Gates, and the Planning Commission never issued a disaster management vision document under this name. These are simply invented distractors. The gene explanation, option 2, is the correct one.