India maps first Human Genome Sequence

Using as little as 10 millilitres of blood from a “healthy 52-year-old-man”, scientists at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi have successfully mapped the Human Genome Sequence for the first time in India.

The breakthrough paves the way for predictive healthcare and the possibility of identifying why certain people (with particular gene sequences) do not respond to certain medications, and what diseases a particular gene carrier, or a population, is likely to develop.

While the actual genome sequencing was completed in 45 days, the project took two years of background work — setting up a supercomputer facility, procuring software and standardizing protocols. The team that achieved the feat was led by Dr S Sridhar and IGIB PhD student Vinod Scaria, both in their mid-thirties.