National Facility for Gene Function in Health & Disease: what it will do, what it has

Why it is needed

With a growing zoonotic disease burden on human health, there is an increased urgency to perform disease studies based on physiological evidence and methods. Since human trials alone cannot suffice for such studies, the need for having experimental setups using animal models has become imperative. Hence, animal, plant and microorganism-based models are now being significantly deployed to study diseases in a time-bound manner.

Laid the foundation stone of Department of Data Science and inaugurated National Facility for Gene Function in Health and Diseases at @IISERPune.

The advanced facility will build capacities in biological research & assist in reducing knowledge gap in understanding of pathogens. pic.twitter.com/ZcnOL1DTC2

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) May 27, 2022

“Scientists depend on small animals such as rats, mice and rabbits to study human diseases. When an animal model is used to study diseases, we need to carefully follow the animal’s well-being for long durations. During this time-frame, the animals are prudently observed, bred for further generations. Their behaviours are monitored in responses to stimuli, signs for any phenotypic variations, feeding behaviours and changes in habits if any,” said Prof Anjan Banerjee, Dean, Research and Development at IISER, Pune.

Technological facilities

The facility houses molecular biology laboratories and mico-injection setups to generate mouse models, in which scientists will knock out existing genes and replace them with external or artificial genes that are linked to the disease under study. This is done through CRISPR / Cas9 systems.

The genome engineering facility at NFGFHD in the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. (Source: IISER, Pune)

There are facilities for making embryonic stem cell-based models and traditional transgenic mice models, embryo and sperm cryopreservation, and in-vitro fertilisation.

“We now have trained and skilled manpower, including veterinary scientists and technicians to provide timely service such as transgenic (gene knockout or knock-in) mice, rats, to scientists working at IISER Pune and other institutes, universities and industries across the country,” Dr Banerjee said.