Coronavirus pandemic has made health and medical science among the top priorities all over the world. The result of this is that the Government of India is also working aggressively on Future Medical Science. The Department of Biotechnology is studying the genomes of 20,000 people of 100 species across the country under the Genome India Project. The task of this very ambitious project has been given to 20 institutes across the country.
Now, What is a Genome?
Every organism’s genetic code is contained in its DNA. A genome is all the genetic matter in an organism. It is defined as ‘an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes’.
Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome contains more than 3 billion DNA base pairs.
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Significance of this project
After studying the Genome sequencing of individuals, it will be possible to know which species in the country is more likely to get which disease and how to avoid it. If there is a greater possibility of particular disease in any caste and race then it will be able to stop it beforehand.
Personalized treatment will be possible, in which every patient will be given medicine and dose accordingly. With this, study will prove to be a milestone for future treatment.
How it will change the course of medical science?
- The possibility of illness will be known prior to occurrence of the disease.
- Antenatal care will be advanced, that is, baby can be treated before birth.
- Personalized treatment, i.e. which medicine, which dose will have more efficacy on the person, can be designed for the individual.
- When the genome data will be combined with Artificial Intelligence, it will tell the prediction.
- Salt and combination of drugs will change.
- If there is more vulnerability of a particular disease in a community, then it will be able to stop it.
A person’s genotype may take up to 40 GB
Gene mapping is very complex and nano level task. There are two parts of a gene, coding and non-coding. Sequences of the genome can first detect BP, diabetes, cancer, etc A person’s genotype data comes in up to 40 GB.
How this study changed the ‘cure’?
The first consortium on the genome mapping in the world was held in 1993. Only after this the genome study of humans could be successfully done. In the year 2003, when the results of the genome study came, diseases started to be diagnosed early on this basis, antenatal treatment could be started. Seeing the advantages of this project, it has been started in the country.