CSIR team decodes genetic makeup of Jharkhand man.
How about knowing in advance the diseases you might get? What medicines would suit you for blood pressure or diabetes? What is in your genes? And, how long will you live?
A team of Indian scientists claim to have found answers to these questions after being the first in the country to decode the human genome. With their success, India joins an elite league of countries like the US, Britain, Canada, China and Korea.
The team was led by Dr Rajesh Gokhale of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (Igib), a unit under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and included Dr Sridhar Sivasubbu, Dr Vinod Scaria and CSIR director-general Prof Samir K Brahmachari.
The person whose genome was decoded is a 55-year-old man from Jharkhand. Although he is healthy, his genetic sequencing showed he is susceptible to bipolar disorder, collateral cancers, five variations of ulcer and three types of coronary disease.
Genetic sequencing will help in the early diagnosis and management of diseases, including cancer. Persons with genetic profiling will get an indication of diseases to come. "Genetic sequencing sets the stage for affordable healthcare and predictive medicine, besides giving rise to possibilities in diagnostics, treatment and personalised medicine," said Prithviraj Chavan, Union minister for science and technology (S&T). "It is expected that genome medicines based on sequencing will prolong life by 30 years."
Dr Gokhale said: "Doctors will be able to identify medicines for a person with a particular genetic makeup. They will be able to tell in advance what drugs the person will be allergic or resistant to and about cheaper alternatives.
"Similarly, for a person susceptible to diabetes, we will be able to tell in advance whether the condition can be treated without problem or if it will create complications like kidney failure."
Dr Bhattacharya said: "In future, medicines can be tailor-made for a person's genetic make-up."
Scientists are now going to map particular groups of people with similar genetic makeup.
"For instance, Sharmas or Aggarwals of a particular gotra will be mapped to find out what kind of health problems the community is prone to. Similarly, people of particular regions, races and castes would be also be mapped," Dr Gokhale said.
Already, genome mapping of 10 persons from north and central India has begun. Each sequencing will cost about Rs1.5 lakh. "Similar sequencing will gradually be done for Maharashtrians, Bengalis, Punjabis, etc," Chavan said.
Earlier this year, India became the first country to sequence the wild strain of zebrafish, which is used for modelling human diseases.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}