Context

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) officially announced the completion of the ‘10,000 genome’ project — an attempt to create a reference database of whole-genome sequences out of India. 

Dimension 1: Distinct variations in Indian Population

• The Indian population of 1.3 billion consists of over 4,600 population groups, and many of them are endogamous.
• These factors have contributed to the genetic diversity of the current population.
• Thus, the Indian population harbours distinct variations and often many disease-causing mutations are amplified within some of these groups.

Dimension 2: Significance of complete human genome

• A complete human genome makes it easier to study genetic variationbetween individuals or between populations.
• A genome refers to all of the genetic material in an organism.
• The human genome is mostly the same in all people, but a very small part of the DNA does vary between one individual and another.
• It can help identify differences from the average human genome that are often associated with disorders and disease but can also be associated with other factors like disease resistance or sensitivity to an environmental perturbation like sunlight or exercise.

• Genome sequencing has been used to evaluate rare disorders, preconditions for disorders, even cancer from the viewpoint of genetics, rather than as diseases of certain organs. Nearly 10,000 diseases — including cystic fibrosis and thalassemia — are known to be the result of a single gene malfunctioning.

What is Genome Sequencing?

• Genome sequencing involves revealing the order of bases present in the entire genome of an organism. 
• While the sequence or order of base pairs is identical in all humans, there are differences in the genome of every human being that makes them unique. 
• The process of deciphering the order of base pairs, to decode the genetic fingerprint of a human is called genome sequencing.