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India gets into Sri Lankan genes
In an assertion of its arrival in the blooming global industry of commercial human genome sequencing, Indian scientists have mapped the genome of a Sri Lankan individual.
The project involved the Centre for Genomic Application, a public-private company floated by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Kolkata-based Institute of Molecular Medicine.
Though the Sri Lankan genome was mapped in December, it is yet to be formally announced via a scientific publication. The project is championed by the University of Colombos Faculty of Medicine, in which CSIR played the pivotal role of crunching and scanning the gigantic swathe of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).
Sequencing the human genome is currently a $250 billion (around Rs. 12 trillion) market and has mushroomed into an international biological race in the last five years, with most countries vying to bring down the cost of sequencing the human genome, according to analysts.
Mapping genomes will help medical experts prepare a diagnostic map of various genes that could predispose individuals to certain diseases and their tolerance to various kinds of treatments.
For instance, Acton Biotech (India) Pvt. Ltd, a Pune-based biotechnology start-up, said in February that it would offer commercial genome scanning services at Rs. 20,000 a test. A blood test and a months analysis would let people know, according to the companys chief executive, their propensity to a range of nearly 100 diseases and disorders, including diabetes, asthma, hypertension, arthritis, obesity and even infertility.
All of these diseases have a strong hereditary component, said Sandeep Saxena, founder and CEO of Acton Biotech. What were offering is probability estimates of acquiring a disease within a certain number of years. Several conditions may be hereditary, but can be managed if we discover them early and take adequate precautions.
In 2009, CSIR scientists announced the first Indian whole-genome sequencing, following the US, the UK, China, Canada and South Koreathe five other countries to map the genetic code.
The genomeas the bases, DNA and other hereditary molecules are collectively referred toconsists of around 35,000 known genes. If all the DNA from every cell in the body were taken out and laid out end to end, it would stretch from the earth to the sun 70 times and back.
Sequencing the entire genome essentially means photographing this chain of base pairs several times over to accurately estimate an individuals unique structure. Doing this quickly requires massive computing power as well as skilled biotechnologists, which puts the cost of a complete sequencing and requisite analysis at nearly $15,000-20,000.
The global push is in trying to bring this cost down to about $1,000 in the next few years that would then make it competitive enough for the medical diagnostics market, said Devashish Ohri, managing director of Life Technologies, South Asia.
He said that India was now a $25 million market for genome sequencing applications and had about one-fourth of the next-generation sequencing machinesmostly developed by American and European companies and the backbone of whole genome sequencingthat China had.
Sridhar Sivasubbu, a CSIR researcher involved with the Sri Lankan genome-mapping exercise, said that though the mapping project was a commercial deal, it involved Indian scientists sharing knowledge with Sri Lankan collaborators.
It wasnt a purely commercial transaction, he said. While several international outfits offer commercial scanning services, we (CSIR) became partners as we were also sharing what weve learned about sequencing techniques, analysis, etc.
Genomics is only the latest of the several fields in which India has been boosting scientific ties with Asian neighbours in the last few years. Earlier this year, the India Meteorological Department began issuing monsoon forecasts for Vietnam and Myanmar, and in 2009, prepared a scientific document for Bangladesh to help it stake a claim with the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea, an arbitration body that decides nations rights over unallotted ocean beds.
Both were pro bono exercises, said Shailesh Nayak, secretary, ministry of earth sciences, which coordinated both these initiatives. If we are in a position to offer these services, we should be taking a lead in sharing scientific data.
India gets into Sri Lankan genes - Home - livemint.com
In an assertion of its arrival in the blooming global industry of commercial human genome sequencing, Indian scientists have mapped the genome of a Sri Lankan individual.
The project involved the Centre for Genomic Application, a public-private company floated by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Kolkata-based Institute of Molecular Medicine.
Though the Sri Lankan genome was mapped in December, it is yet to be formally announced via a scientific publication. The project is championed by the University of Colombos Faculty of Medicine, in which CSIR played the pivotal role of crunching and scanning the gigantic swathe of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).
Sequencing the human genome is currently a $250 billion (around Rs. 12 trillion) market and has mushroomed into an international biological race in the last five years, with most countries vying to bring down the cost of sequencing the human genome, according to analysts.
Mapping genomes will help medical experts prepare a diagnostic map of various genes that could predispose individuals to certain diseases and their tolerance to various kinds of treatments.
For instance, Acton Biotech (India) Pvt. Ltd, a Pune-based biotechnology start-up, said in February that it would offer commercial genome scanning services at Rs. 20,000 a test. A blood test and a months analysis would let people know, according to the companys chief executive, their propensity to a range of nearly 100 diseases and disorders, including diabetes, asthma, hypertension, arthritis, obesity and even infertility.
All of these diseases have a strong hereditary component, said Sandeep Saxena, founder and CEO of Acton Biotech. What were offering is probability estimates of acquiring a disease within a certain number of years. Several conditions may be hereditary, but can be managed if we discover them early and take adequate precautions.
In 2009, CSIR scientists announced the first Indian whole-genome sequencing, following the US, the UK, China, Canada and South Koreathe five other countries to map the genetic code.
The genomeas the bases, DNA and other hereditary molecules are collectively referred toconsists of around 35,000 known genes. If all the DNA from every cell in the body were taken out and laid out end to end, it would stretch from the earth to the sun 70 times and back.
Sequencing the entire genome essentially means photographing this chain of base pairs several times over to accurately estimate an individuals unique structure. Doing this quickly requires massive computing power as well as skilled biotechnologists, which puts the cost of a complete sequencing and requisite analysis at nearly $15,000-20,000.
The global push is in trying to bring this cost down to about $1,000 in the next few years that would then make it competitive enough for the medical diagnostics market, said Devashish Ohri, managing director of Life Technologies, South Asia.
He said that India was now a $25 million market for genome sequencing applications and had about one-fourth of the next-generation sequencing machinesmostly developed by American and European companies and the backbone of whole genome sequencingthat China had.
Sridhar Sivasubbu, a CSIR researcher involved with the Sri Lankan genome-mapping exercise, said that though the mapping project was a commercial deal, it involved Indian scientists sharing knowledge with Sri Lankan collaborators.
It wasnt a purely commercial transaction, he said. While several international outfits offer commercial scanning services, we (CSIR) became partners as we were also sharing what weve learned about sequencing techniques, analysis, etc.
Genomics is only the latest of the several fields in which India has been boosting scientific ties with Asian neighbours in the last few years. Earlier this year, the India Meteorological Department began issuing monsoon forecasts for Vietnam and Myanmar, and in 2009, prepared a scientific document for Bangladesh to help it stake a claim with the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea, an arbitration body that decides nations rights over unallotted ocean beds.
Both were pro bono exercises, said Shailesh Nayak, secretary, ministry of earth sciences, which coordinated both these initiatives. If we are in a position to offer these services, we should be taking a lead in sharing scientific data.
India gets into Sri Lankan genes - Home - livemint.com
