The Gene Business
Are you genetically predisposed to some diseases? Do you carry genetic mutations that can impact the health of your child? A debit card-sized IndiGenome card, recently unveiled by the government, will help you find the answers if your genetic information is captured in a database that India’s umbrella research organisation – the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – is building. Once your genome is sequenced from your blood sample and added to this database, the card can be used to read the information embedded in your genes, just as your debit card is used to generate a financial transaction statement from your bank’s database.
Well, the card is not the key. Genome sequencing – or mapping the pattern of the basic building block of every living cell – is. A genome contains all of a living being’s genetic material (simply put, the genome is divided into chromosomes, chromosomes contain genes, and genes are made of DNA). Each genome has approximately 3.2 billion DNA base pairs, and the way they are arranged, or variations and mutations in their pattern, can provide clues about the individual’s health or ill health, inherited or acquired. Already, 1,008 individuals, chosen to represent India’s social, ethnic and geographic diversity, have been issued such cards. Over 280 doctors in 70 institutions have been trained to make sense of such data. A CSIR institute, the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) – which is spearheading the Genomics for Public Health in India, also called IndiGen project –
