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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, NOV 8: Biochemists are tying up with a pharmaceutical company for the first time in India to conduct genomic research. As part of its Functional Genomics programme launched in mid-97, the Delhi-based Centre for Biochemical Technology (CBT) has tied up with the Mumbai-based pharma major, Nicolas-Piramal, to set up a Rs 20-crore genome research programme.
Called GenQuest, the programme will undertake projects to identify the genes for genetically complex disorders common in India, like cardiovascular disease and diabetes over the next three years.
Until now, all the important global discoveries in genetics have concerned relatively rare maladies caused by defects in single genes such as haemophilia or cystic fibrosis. Identifying the genes for bigger scourges like heart disease and diabetes is difficult as these are multi-gene disorders where genetic predisposition interacts with other factors like environment lifestyle.
Calling it a “knowledge alliance,” Dr Samir K Brahmachari, Director, CBT, said that while the genome activity will be based in Delhi, the chemical and pharmaceutical research will take place in Mumbai. “What we’re setting up is a superfocused knowledge centre to conduct cost-viable projects in the next few years,” he said.
The joint programme will be part of the drug company’s US$ 3 million annual budget for research. This is Nicolas-Piramal’s first genomic programme and will incorporate the first genome project on diabetes in India, Nicolas-Piramal head Swati Piramal told The Indian Express. “We are expecting to identify novel approaches for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the Indian diabetes model,” she said.
With CBT as the “technical partner”, the two will concentrate on harvesting the knowledge that has been made available through the decoding of the genetic code. “The huge volumes of sequence data available has now to be functionally characterised and we have positioned ourselves to do so,” said Brahmachari.
Agreed Piramal: “Almost all of the human genetic code is in the public domain and what we will do now is make sense out of it and apply it to our own population.”
Work is already going on at the CBT in the fields of neurological and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and epilepsy; respiratory disorders like asthma, high altitude sickness, tuberculosis, and blood disorders like thalassaemia and haemophilia.
Identifying the gene would allow scientists and pharmaceutical companies to develop prevention and treatment strategies that address the underlying molecular defects rather than just the symptoms.
Thrust areas
* Asthma
* High altitude sickness
* Schizophrenia
* Bipolar disorder (manic depression)
* Ataxias (loss of control over body movement)
* Epilepsy
* Tuberculosis
* Thalassaemia
* Haemophilia
