Compared to Chinas BGI,which employs 200 gene sequencers and 2,500 professionals,Indias first venture into large-scale gene sequencing is humble. Ganit (Genomics Application and Informatics Technology) Labs,a Rs-15-crore public-private-partnership venture,uses a couple of next-generation sequencers and employs about 15 full-time people Yet the Bangalore-based Ganit has set about tackling a few indigenous issues: finding the genetic basis of oral cancer,specifically tongue cancer,and finding out what in the genetics of the neem plant makes it such a popular natural remedy. In September,Ganit Labs,a joint venture between Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology,along with one of Indias first genomics and informatics companies,Strand Life Sciences,and the state and central governments,announced the complete sequencing of the neem genome and is now working on the genetic basis of tongue cancer. The tongue is a very interesting case because as you know most of the cases of oral cancer is caused by habits - smoking,chewing tobacco,gutkha. Available data from our registry in India and the registry in the US shows that the number of people affected by tongue cancer is very high among the younger population particularly below the age of 45 and is increasing while the case of other subsets of oral cancer is actually slowly decreasing, says Ganit Labs head Dr Binay Panda,a Ph D in molecular virology from Oxford University and an American Cancer Society postdoctorate. Dr Panda,a senior vice president at Strand Life Sciences,says Ganit is chasing the genes behind tongue cancer also because there is new evidence to show that the cancer is increasingly appearing even among people with no habits like smoking,chewing tobacco or gutkha. We assume that there are some genetic signatures and that will be interesting to find out, he says. Many,many people,particularly all genome centres,are studying cancer but we are one of the few studying oral cancer because it is prevalent in our country. In a corner of Electronics City in Bangalore,Ganit is working in collaboration with Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre for the study of tongue cancer and has students from the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology,where Ganit is located,to work on gene sequencing,analysis and interpretation. The real cream of cancer research is not telling people they have cancer but predicting cancer early because the rate of cure is directly proportional to the time one finds out that you have a tumor,at least in the case of oral cancer. The earlier the diagnosis,the better the prediction of a good outcome. We are right now nowhere near this but this is the goal, says Dr Panda. A highly data-intensive sphere,genomics around the world is throwing up mountains of data that even modern broadband internet connections cannot transmit easily,leave alone allow scope for effective analysis and interpretation. In the last eight months since we started operations,we already have 30-40 terabytes of data, says Panda. Another bottleneck,he says,is a lack of people who can be drafted in for research. I have a vision of making this a 1,000-people group. We wanted to show that in a small way we can start,do this highly skilled work in a very short time but to go to the next level you cant hire one or two people from US and Europe we need to train our own, he says. It is not about money,it is people who create innovation. The question is,are we creating,nurturing innovation,creating minds that create jobs? The answer is no. The race is not to be big,but to create,focus on people,create innovation through people, he says.
