Union Science and technology Minister jitendra singh hailed the announcement on tuesday that scientists have sequenced the genomes of 10,000 indians from a variety of groups in order to build a database that may eventually lead to gene-based treatments as a "watershed moment" for indian science.
 
Speaking at a gathering in the nation's capital, Singh stated that genome research or sequencing will define the global healthcare policies of the future, both preventative and curative.
 
According to him, as india positions itself as a leading nation among the world's most technologically proficient nations, there is an urgent need to discover indian answers to indian challenges.
 
Singh praised the Department of Biotechnology for its audacious plan to sequence the entire genomes of 10,000 healthy individuals from 99 communities, which represent all major linguistic and social groups in the nation, in order to identify and catalogue the genetic variations of diverse indian populations.
 
According to him, many of the 4,600 demographic groupings that make up India's 1.3 billion people are endogamous.
 
"The present population's genetic diversity is a result of these influences. As a result, there are unique differences in the indian population, and numerous disease-causing mutations are frequently magnified among certain of these populations. As a result, conclusions drawn from human genetics research focusing on populations or diseases cannot be applied to the indian population, according to Singh.
 
By compiling a database of indian genomes, scientists worldwide would be able to identify genetic variations specific to indian population groupings and utilise this knowledge to tailor medications and treatments. There are initiatives underway in the US, China, and the UK to sequence at least one million genomes.
 
Beyond the sheer magnitude of sequencing and creating a reference genome, the joint coordinators of GenomeIndia, Prof. Y Narahari and Dr. K Thangaraj, stated that the establishment of a biobank at the Centre for Brain Research, which houses 20,000 blood samples, and the data archiving at the indian Biological Data Centre, demonstrate the project's dedication to openness, cooperation, and future research endeavours.
 
The Department of Biotechnology of the Union government established the indian Biological Data Centre at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, where the data is being kept.
 
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G GOWTHAM

28/02/2024 11:28 AM