Srinagar, Apr 27: A detailed mapping of genetic diversity of J&K, along with a robust mapping across India is underway and has made significant progress.
Diverse ethno-linguistic groups here have been sequenced including Indo-European and Tibeto-Burman populations, as per the genetic make-up.
The project with Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar as a contributor has identified ìmillions of unique genetic variantsî in these populations.
The GenomeIndia project, a landmark and one-of-a-kind national initiative to map Indiaís genetic diversity, is coordinated by the Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Across India, 20 institutions, including SKIMS Soura Srinagar have been involved in scientific and detailed genetic mapping.
The project aims to contribute to precision medicine with tailor-made healthcare solutions for each of the diverse population groups with distinct genetic profiles.
Ex-Officio Secretary to Government and Director SKIMS Soura Prof Ashraf Ganai said, ìThe Genome India project will not only enhance our understanding of J&Kís genetic heritage but also set the stage for disease prediction and personalised treatments.î
In J&K it has identified Indo-European tribes and Indo-European non-tribes while in the Ladakh region, Tibeto-Burban tribes have been identified as part of the genome study.
Similarly, in J&K, Indo-European language families and in Ladakh, Tibeto-Burman language families constitute the study set.
The study highlights Indiaís complex ethno-linguistic and socio-cultural diversity.
It has sequenced the genomes of 9772 healthy, unrelated individuals from 83 population groups across India, and also captures the genetic variation of J&Kís tribal and non-tribal populations.
A brief about the study has been published in the April 8 issue of Nature Genetics.
Prof Ganai said that J&Kís genetic landscape is shaped by several historical migrations and also endogamy and harbours distinct variations that are critical for understanding the health and disease in the region.
The project is building up the first-of-its-kind South Asia-specific genotyping array and has incorporated J&K variants, to support and improve imputation accuracy as well as large-scale genetic association studies.
This will capture common and rare variants unique to Indian population and population sub-types, many absent from global databases.
The research promises that precision medicine is not far away.
ìThe advancement in genetic understanding and mapping will facilitate early detection and prevention of in-fetus genetic abnormalities and support targeted treatments for hereditary conditions,î the researchers said.
At SKIMS, the J&K project part was led by Prof Ganie and supported by Co-Investigators Prof Bashir Ahmad Charoo, Dr Mahrukh Hameed Zargar, and Dr Imtiyaz Ahmad Wani.
SKIMS has sampled and phenotyped 1274 individuals from the Kashmir, Jammu, and Ladakh regions. The cohort included Kashmiri Muslims (N=326), Kashmiri Pandits (N=326), Dogras (N=326), Gujjar-Bakarwals (N=148), and Baltis (N=148).
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