GenomeIndia: Unlocking India's Genetic Future

The GenomeIndia initiative has advanced considerably in the decoding of genetic data that is distinctive to the Indian populace, offering great promise for medical research and healthcare. The initiative conducted genotyping on 10,074 unrelated and healthy individuals from 85 groups—32 tribal and 53 non-tribal—throughout India. Whole genome sequencing was conducted on 9,772 individuals from approximately 20,000 collected blood samples, uncovering more than 180 million genetic variants. Out of these, there were 130 million on autosomes (non-sex chromosomes) and 50 million on sex chromosomes. Some variants are associated with disease, while others are rare or found only in India or certain communities. It is anticipated that these insights will influence future strategies for early diabetes prevention, rare disease management, drug discovery, and AI-driven precision medicine tailored to India’s genetically diverse population.