Dr Jitendra Singh launches National BioBank' for personalised healthcare for every Indian
Designed on the lines of the UK Biobank but contextualised for Indian diversity, the biobank will collect and analyse genetic, lifestyle and clinical data from 10,000 individuals across the country.
It is housed at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) here.
Dr Singh who also launched India's first longitudinal population health study on the occasion, said, 'This is a decisive step towards individualised healthcare, one where treatment can be tailored to a person's genetic background, lifestyle and environment.'
The Biobank will support long-term research into a host of conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, rare genetic diseases and cancers, with a view to improve diagnostics, therapeutic targeting and disease prevention strategies, said a statement from the Ministry.
Highlighting the unique metabolic and epidemiological characteristics observed in the Indian population, Dr. Singh underscored the need for population-specific strategies. 'Indians may appear lean but still harbour central obesity, a known risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,' he noted. 'Our conditions are complex and deeply heterogeneous. This is where the Biobank becomes vital.'
CSIR-IGIB's current projects, including indigenous CRISPR trials for sickle cell anaemia, efforts against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and diagnostics for liver fibrosis and rare disorders, are expected to greatly benefit from the high-resolution health data generated through the Biobank.
Calling for enhanced synergy between research institutions, government departments and the private sector, Dr. Singh emphasised the need to bridge lab-based research with social impact. 'Scientific breakthroughs must transition from the bench to the bedside—and ultimately to the marketplace,' he said.
Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director General of CSIR and Secretary, DSIR, emphasised its potential to evolve into a global benchmark. 'This is a baby step today, but it holds the promise to rival international projects in both scale and depth,' she said.
Dr. Kalaiselvi also reiterated CSIR's efforts in developing affordable diagnostics and CRISPR-based therapies in collaboration with tribal communities, particularly for sickle cell anaemia—a disease with high prevalence in certain regions of India.
Reflecting on IGIB's pioneering legacy in genomics, Dr. Souvik Maiti, Director of CSIR-IGIB, noted that the institute was the first in India to begin decoding the human genome, even before sequencing tools became widely available. He cited IGIB's development of over 300 genetic diagnostics, its leadership in COVID-19 genome surveillance, and India's first Drug Genome Project.
IGIB's expanding research now includes women-centric studies, breast cancer genomics, and innovative work in space biology and AI-assisted pilot fitness assessments in collaboration with the Indian Air Force, said the statement.
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