Genome India Project

• 29 Feb 2024

On 27th February, the Genome India project announced the successful sequencing of 10,000 whole genomes of healthy persons from across the country.

Key Points

• Institutes Involved: Researchers from 20 science institutes across the country helped in collecting the blood samples, sequencing the genome, developing a methodology, and storing the data.
• Indian Biological Data Centre: With each sequence requiring 80 GB storage space, the huge dataset of 8 petabytes will be stored at the Indian Biological Data Centre in Faridabad (Haryana).
• Digital Public Good: This dataset will be made available to researchers as “digital public good.” The data can be utilised to develop new diagnostics, targeted therapies, identify new rare diseases, and cure existing ones.
• Genome India Project: It was approved by the government in 2020 with the aim of creating a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variations found in the Indian population.
• A map of genetic diversity is essential for understanding the history of our evolution, discovering the genetic basis for various diseases, and creating therapies of the future.
• This cannot be done using data available in existing international databases, as Indian genomes are likely to be different from that of other populations.
• Unique Resource: This map will also create a unique resource. This is because our population of 1.4 billion consists of more than 4,600 distinct groups.