Genome India Project (GIP)

Context (TH | IE | PIB | TP): The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) officially completed the 10,000 genome project (Genome India project).
Taking inspiration from the Human Genome Project, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) initiated the ambitious Genome India Project (GIP) in 2020.
It aims to collect 10,000 genetic samples from citizens across India, to build a reference genome.
Gene Mapping project involves 20 leading institutions of the country with the Centre for Brain Research of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore as the nodal point.
India first sequenced a complete human genome in 2006.
All the data are being stored at the Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC) located at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB) in Faridabad.
The IBDC is the country’s only databank. Prior to that, Indian researchers had to host their biological datasets on American or European servers.
Countries like the UK, China, and the US also have projects to sequence a significant number of genomes.

Need for an India-specific database?

India’s population of 1.4 billion comprises over 4,600 population groups, many of which are endogamous.
This diversity has led to distinct genetic variations, with certain groups having a higher frequency of disease-causing mutations.
Harmful mutations, less common globally, are concentrated at elevated rates within these endogamous groups in India. For example,
- A mutation MYBPC3 that leads to cardiac arrest at a young age is found in 4.5% of the Indian population but is rare globally.
- Another mutation called LAMB3 that causes a lethal skin condition is found in nearly 4% of the population near Madurai, but it is not seen in global databases.

A population group refers to a group of individuals united by a common factor (e.g., geographic location, ethnicity, disease, age, gender).
Endogamous is the practice of allowing marriage only within a specific tribe, caste, ethnic or religious group, or other social unit. For example, Caste in India.
An analysis of just 5,750 of the genomes has helped researchers identify 135 million genetic variants found in India.

To gain deeper insight into India’s population diversity.
Improve diagnostic methods and medical counselling.
Find genetic predispositions to disease.
Develop personalised and customisable drugs.
Improve gene therapy.
Throw more light on individual susceptibility to infectious disease.
Help in identifying resistance-indicating variants. For example, genes that might make certain medicines or anaesthetics ineffective in certain populations.

India’s bio-economy has grown 13 folds in the last 10 years from $10 billion in 2014 to over $130 billion in 2024.
India is now being rated among top 12 bio-manufacturers in the world.
In the Interim budget (2024-25), GoI announced a new scheme of Bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry to be implemented by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
It provides environment-friendly alternatives such as biodegradable polymers, bio-plastics, bio-pharmaceuticals and bio-agri-inputs.
This scheme will also help transform today’s consumptive manufacturing paradigm into one based on regenerative principles.
Success stories that have made tremendous contributions to India’s bio-economy include:
- Mission COVID Suraksha.
- Indian biological data centre.
- Indian sars-cov-2 genomic consortium (INSACOG).
- Establishment of apex organisation- Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (Bric).

Human Genome Project is a publicly funded international collaborative research project aimed at:
- Determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up human DNA, &
- Identifying & mapping all of the genes of the human genome.
It was formally launched in 1990 and finally declared complete in 2003.