Genome India Project

• About 10,000 genomes are expected to be completely sequenced by the end of the year 2023 under the Genome India Project.
• Under GIP, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is close to have sequenced 7,000 genomes and 3,000 of these are already available for public access.
  • United Kingdom, China, and United States are among the countries that have programmes to sequence at least 1 lakh of their genomes.

About GIP

• DBT initiated GIP in 2020 (inspired from Human Genome Project) to sequence 10,000 Indian human genomes and create a database.
• Creating a database of Indian genomes means that researchers from anywhere can learn about genetic variants that are unique to India’s population groups and use that to customise drugs and therapies.
• GIP is led by Centre for Brain Research at Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science, which acts as central coordinator between a collaboration of 20 leading institutions.
• Genome sequencing is figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome—the order of Adenine, Cytosine, Guanines, and Thymine that make up an organism’s DNA.
  • Genome is the complete set of genetic information in an organism.
• Applications of Genome sequencing: Identifying inherited disorders and mutations that drive cancer progression, and tracking disease outbreak; Personalised medicines based on genomic make up etc