According to Sandeep Sehgal, Partner at AKM Global, the said ruling highlights a crucial distinction between approved healthcare diagnostics and new, tech-driven testing methods. It clearly states that not all laboratory tests are automatically exempt from GST. If a test is still in the experimental stage and lacks approvals from regulatory bodies like ICMR or CDSCO, it will be treated as research and subject to GST. This is a key takeaway for diagnostic start-ups and labs using advanced technologies like genome sequencing or AI-based testing. Therefore, “to qualify for GST exemption under healthcare services, obtaining proper medical licenses and regulatory approvals is essential,” he said.Published on April 21, 2025 “The primary activity is research and experimental development of Cancer Prognostic and Diagnostic Technologies,” MAAR said while ruling that it is not eligible for the benefit of exemption. The quails judicial body observed that diagnostic test is still in its developmental stage and is not yet validated by the medical regulatory bodies. It noticed that applicant has not produced any license or certificate from Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation or any approval from Indian Council for Medical Research . It also said: “Tests cannot be treated as a proper diagnostic test but is more in the nature of clinical research and development and as a result it does not qualify as a Health Care Service.”Epigeneres Biotech Private Ltd had moved MAAR seeking advance ruling on whether the provision of diagnostic services would qualify for exemption from GST. Diagnostic services for conducting blood tests which assists in early detection of cancer fall out of the periphery of ‘Healthcare services’, Maharashtra’s Authority for Advance Ruling (MAAR) has ruled. This means such a service will not be exempted from GST.

They are using pluripotent stem cells, which are the earliest cells that form and give rise to every other type of cell in the body. From pluripotent stem cells to actual embryos, it is but a hop, as is embryo to fetus. After all, they also have artificial uterus technology to help.Scientists are researching developing bodyoids — they are not there yet, but well on the way.Welcome to the emerging world of ‘bodyoids’.Writing in MIT Technology Review, Carsten T Charlesworth, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, is all for it. He says it is possible to even build animal bodyoids for, say, work in agricultural fields, replacing sentient animals. Charlesworth does advocate caution, but stresses that “the opportunity is too important to ignore”.So, in the near future, a biotech company can mass-produce human bodies that medical students can dissect and study, pharma companies can inject with drugs and assess their effect, avoiding putting mice and primates through the misery of drug tests.Some may find the idea of bodyoids exciting, others disturbing, raising ethical questions.Come to think of it, if you can grow organs-on-a-chip, why not an entire human body?Imagine this: An adult human body, lying on a table. It is not alive — it never did have ‘life’. But it has all organs functioning — except the brain. It is not sentient; it can never feel pain or pleasure — it is “experientially blank”. A fully lab-grown zombie, produced for scientific experiments, including drug testing.

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Published on April 20, 2025