(a) whether India missed the great opportunity in partnership in the human genome project and
thereby lost the utility of right type of data;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
(a) whether India missed the great opportunity in partnership in the human genome project and
thereby lost the utility of right type of data;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE DEPARTMENT OF OCEAN DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAPIL SIBAL)
(a),(b) & (c): No Sir. India has not missed the great opportunity by not participating in the international Human Genome Project. However, the Department of Biotechnology with large number of experts from the country, analysed the position and decided that it would be worthwhile to take up an Indian programme on genome sequencing that is more relevant to country`s specific needs and would be economically feasible. Thedata generated from Human Genome Project is available in public domain and is accessible. The Department has established large number of bioinformatics centres including four mirror sites to collect and utilize the right type of data to develop technologies for identifying the human mutations in specific genetic disorder in Indian population to reduce the genetic disease burden in the country.
The Department has implemented several projects including eighteen genetic diagnosis cum counselling units in different parts of the country with major programmes in the area of Functional Genomics, Human Genome Diversity, Pharmacogenomics, Microbial Genomics, Computational Genomics etc. Several families including tribal population, got benefited from genetic diagnosis cum counseling units for common genetic disorders like thalassemia, sickle cell diseases, Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy, haemophilia, cystic fibrosis etc.