Genome India Project: Proposals underway to do translational research on available biological data

New Delhi: “Under the ‘Genome India’ project, the study has been carried out throughout the length and breadth of the country and ensured equitable sampling across linguistic, social, and regional groups in India. Approximately, 36.7% of the samples were collected from rural, 32.2 % from urban and 31.1 % from the tribal populations. It is imperative that maximum benefit should be accrued from the large data base already created,” informed the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh while responding to a question in the Parliament on March 19, 2025.

“Hence the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) initially focuses on translational research using the already available dataset, for which proposals are being sought throughout the country and the process is still on; hence state wise data in this regard is not available,” added Dr Singh.

Minister also stated further that the Department has planned to fund translational research in which this dataset will serve as a template, thus maximizing the benefits of the data generated under ‘Genome India’ project. “This data will be disseminated to the researchers under the provisions of the Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines and ‘Framework for Exchange of Data (FeED) Protocols.”

“DBT has created the national resource data of whole genome sequencing of 10,074 healthy individuals from 83 heterogeneous populations from 99 different sites, under the “Genome India” project, to create a library of genetic variations. This data aims to serving both scientific and medical community, fostering genomic research. Hence, the data has been archived at the Indian Biological Data Center (IBDC), a National Repository set up by this Department. The data can be used for developing indigenous chips, diagnostics and therapeutics, benefiting healthcare system of the country and thus will contribute to the bioeconomy of the country,” added Dr Singh.