Context

• ‘Genome India: Cataloguing the Genetic Variation in Indians’ project has been sanctioned by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) on January 16, 2020 for a period of 3 years to 20 institutions from varied disciplines across the country. The whole genome sequencing under GenomeIndia has just started.
• The proposed target of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is to do it for total 10,000 individuals representing the country’s diverse population in 3 years. 
• The information generated from whole genome sequencing can facilitate future human genetics research in the country with greater precision, and to design a genome wide association array for the Indian population to develop precision healthcare and diagnostics for major diseases at affordable costs.
• The data security and sharing measures for this project will be governed by the rules and regulations formulated by Government of India.
• The personal information of all individuals consenting to participate in the study is stripped off from any further records in this project.
• This process of de-identification ensures that the personal information of the participants is not compromised. Additionally, ethical measures are strictly adhered to in order to maintain data security and protection.