a) whether the Government has set up COVID-19 Bio-repositories across the country;
b) if so, the details thereof;
c) the number of samples that have been archived so far; and
d) the manner in which this will benefit biomedical researchers?
a) whether the Government has set up COVID-19 Bio-repositories across the country;
b) if so, the details thereof;
c) the number of samples that have been archived so far; and
d) the manner in which this will benefit biomedical researchers?
MINISTER OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES
(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)
(a) & (b) Yes Sir, A total of 17 COVID-19 Bio-repositories have been notified by Government of India on 23-05-2020. These are set up at laboratories of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The list of Bio-repositories may please be seen at Annexure A.
(c) A total of 90, 361 samples (Serum, Nasopharyngeal swab, Plasma, Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells etc.) have been archived so far across the 17 National COVID19 bio-repositories. 11,650 samples have been archived in ICMR COVID-19 bio-repositories, 41,239 samples have been archived in DBT COVID-19 bio-repositories and 37,472 samples have been archived in CSIR COVID-19 bio-repositories.
(d) These samples are being used to develop validated diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines etc. for COVID19 prevention, control and treatment. Additionally the samples are a valuable resource for research and development related activities to understand the early predictors of disease severity, immunopathogenesis of the disease etc.
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Annexure A
List of COVID-19 Bio-repositories notified by Government of India:
COVID-19 Bio-repositories at DBT institutes:
1. DBT-NCR Biotech Cluster- Translational Health Science and Technology Institute & Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad
2. DBT- Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar
3. DBT – Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore
4. DBT funded Biorepository – Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi
5. DBT- National Centre for Cell Science, Pune
COVID-19 Bio-repositories at ICMR institutes:
6. ICMR- National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune
7. ICMR-NIV Field Unit, Bangalore
8. ICMR-NIV Field Unit, Allapuzha, Kerala
9. ICMR- National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata
10. ICMR- National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad
11. ICMR- National Institute for Implementation Research on Non-Communicable Diseases, Jodhpur
12. ICMR- National Institute of Malaria Research, Delhi
13. ICMR- National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai
14. ICMR- National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai
COVID-19 Bio-repositories at CSIR institutes:
15. CSIR – Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, N. Delhi
16. CSIR – Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad
17. CSIR - Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh