News:The Government of India has cleared an ambitious gene-mapping project called the Genome India Project.
Facts:
About Genome Mapping:
- Genome refers to an organism’s complete set of DNA which includes all its genes and mapping these genes simply means finding out the location of these genes in a chromosome.
- Genetic mapping offers evidence that a disease transmitted from parent to child is linked to one or more genes and provides clues about which chromosome contains the gene and precisely where the gene lies on that chromosome
Significance of Genome Mapping:
- It can be used to find out genes that are responsible for relatively rare, single-gene inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
- It may also point out scientists to the genes that play a role in more common disorders and diseases such as asthma, cancer and heart disease among others.
About Genome India Project:
- Genome India Project will involve 20 leading institutions including the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru and a few IITs.
- The IISc’s Centre for Brain Research, an autonomous institute will serve as the nodal point of the project.
- The first stage of the project will look at samples of around 10,000 persons from all over the country to form a grid that will enable the development of a reference genome.
