© 2006-2017 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. -vijay kumar [email protected] - EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE CHENNAI THE HINDU 12 EDITORIAL THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2018 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Towards a genomics revolution India has the scientic resources for genetic research — all it needs is the vision at the national level to leverage them dies” that compare genomes of industry, the IT industry and the cases and controls could be used nascent biotechnology industry. to identify genetic risk factors re­ This coherent push should aim to Money talks lated to common diseases (such as set an ambitious but realistic ob­ heart disease that stem from many jective of creating an Indian genet­ Pakistan is worried less by U.S. withdrawal genes) that aect the health of ma­ ic data bank, to promote academic of aid than the overall downslide in ties Shivaji Sondhi & ny more individuals. We would programmes that train scientists, Priya Moorjani like to emphasise that much of this technicians and doctors in this hat the U.S. will continue to withhold $255 mil­ is simply a question of applying ex­ area and to create a regulatory fra­ lion in Foreign Military Financing to Pakistan this isting methods and could all be mework that promotes broad ob­ Tyear suggests it is prepared to downgrade its ties n 1865, Gregor Mendel disco­ done fairly quickly. jectives for both public and private with Pakistan further in an eort to hold it to acco unt vered the two laws of inheri­ This is a good point at which to sectors without being self­defeat­ on terrorism. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley Itance that are now named after note that such a survey of Indian ing. cited Pakistan’s “double game” of cooperating with the him. Almost 90 years later in 1953, genetic diversity will be an impor­ The fact is that both genetic da­ U.S. and harbouring terrorists who attack its troops in the work of James Watson, Francis tant asset, beyond disease genet­ ta and biological samples are easi­ Crick, Maurice Wilkins and Rosa­ GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO ics. The data collected as part of ly transported across borders and Afghanistan. Mr. Trump’s own tweet, a day earlier, on lind Franklin, deciphered the ing techniques, such as CRISPR. much more genetically diverse — these eorts will also help to un­ if Indian regulation is shortsight­ January 1, was less temperate in its wording. He accused structure of the molecule — DNA — with something like 5,000 ethno­ cover the basic biological function ed, it will simply cause Indian ge­ Pakistan of “lies and deceit” and of treating the U.S. lea­ that stores our hereditary informa­ Surveying Indian variation linguistic and religious groups of genes and their interactions, nomics to move abroad to places dership as “fools”. Pakistan has reacted, but without tion and gets transmitted from pa­ What implications do these deve­ (castes and others), all of which which are not yet fully under­ such as Singapore. In this context the same heat in its words. After a National Security rents to children over generations. lopments have for India and are probably have some degree of ge­ stood. This knowledge will be use­ it is worth mentioning that the Ge­ Council meeting of top generals and ministers con­ there deliberate choices that netic distinctiveness — it needs a ful to humanity worldwide and al­ nomeAsia 100K Initiative based in vened by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, it is­ Personalised medicine would shape this coming future larger survey to do justice to all In­ so oer India a chance to claim a Singapore plans to sequence At this point, in principle, the more advantageously for the coun­ dians. piece of the global medical and 100,000 Asian genomes, includ­ sued a statement expressing “disappointment” over the prospect of building individual­ try and its people? Are there The genetic distinctiveness of scientic frontier. ing some from South Asia. While U.S. statements, and referring to Pakistan’s record in ised medicine based on the pre­ strengths that India can bring to dierent Indian groups is in part As a large part of the enterprise this is eminently worthwhile as it ghting terrorism and providing support to the U.S. ef­ cise information stored in each hu­ this task? To gain fully from the ge­ the result of endogamy. While we would be the application of infor­ will provide a broader pan­Asian fort in Afghanistan. One reason is that the U.S. decision man’s DNA (their genome) had nomics revolution, India needs to cannot know the full impact of en­ mation technology or “bio­infor­ set of data, it would be important to hold back the $255 million was not unexpected. In come into view. But the human ge­ collect information about the ge­ dogamy in advance of a proper matics”, the prospects of esta­ to make similar investments at a May last year, the Trump administration had decided to nome has around 3 billion base netics of its population and train survey, some recent research has blishing viable commercial national scale quickly to avoid the cut the annual outlay for 2018 from $255 million to $100 pairs and in 1953 it wasn’t possible manpower capable of interpreting shown that endogamy is very like­ enterprises with synergies to exist­ situation that this is one of the on­ million. In August, it notied Congress it would with­ to imagine extracting genetic in­ it. The information that is needed ly to be medically signicant. ing IT champions are also ly enterprises to which Indians formation on the molecular scale has to come from a large and sus­ Castes are not just “of the mind”. promising. can turn to. hold the current tranche due for 2016 as well, while a and of this collective size. tained collection of data — fully se­ The genetic implication of this is All in all, the time is ripe for In­ decision on 2017 was still pending. Second, while the Technological advances in se­ quenced individual genomes that there are likely to be many re­ What then is to be done? dia to begin its own genomics re­ overall downslide in ties with the U.S. will be a major quencing methods have made the along with medical histories for cessive diseases stemming from As things stand there is certainly volution. The technical under­ worry for Pakistan, the cancellation of funds may not possibility glimpsed 60 years ago a the individuals who volunteer for single genes specic to individual progress under way. There has standing and will needed to be that alarming. American assistance to Pakistan is at reality today. Already by 2001 the this eort. groups that can be identied. been path­breaking work in using launch this is present in India’s its lowest levels since 2001. Third, Pakistan’s con­ human genome project and its This kind of longitudinal study genomics to shed light on Indian scientic leadership, in medicine dence that it has an alternative in China has grown, with private competitor, Celera Genom­ is what would allow actual physi­ Decreasing disease burden history, a small number of hospi­ and in industry. What is needed is ics, showed that an entire genome cal manifestations relevant to This knowledge could then also be tals are using genetic information a vision and leadership at the na­ Beijing’s pledge of more than $100 billion in loans for could be sequenced. health, e.g. specic illnesses, to be quickly applied to the task of ma­ to help patients, and there is at tional level to leverage this and the China­Pakistan Economic Corridor infrastructure, Since then the cost of doing so related to features in the genome. naging diseases in these groups as least one private sequencing com­ seize the day. Nothing less than the power projects, and so on. The question, then, is has plummeted — currently it is so­ To pick an ambitious but not im­ well as be used for genetic coun­ pany in India. But all of this activi­ very health of the nation is at whether the U.S. will consider stronger measures, such mething like $1000 per person possible number, a data bank that selling that could reduce their inci­ ty is on a much smaller scale than stake. as stopping all funding, sanctions, or cancelling Pak is­ and becoming cheaper — and the collects this kind of information dence in future generations. As an needed and is currently not gener­ tan’s ‘major non­NATO ally’ status. age of genomics­informed medi­ on one million Indians over the example elsewhere, the founder ating the manpower required to From India’s point of view, any attempt to hold Pakis­ cine is now within sight. Perhaps coming decade would be a feasible group of Ashkenazi Jews have al­ equip the next generation of med­ Shivaji Sondhi is Professor of Physics at this will also make interventional eort of the right magnitude. We most eliminated Tay­Sachs disease ical and research activities in the Princeton University, U.S. Priya Moorjani tan’s feet to the re on its support to terror groups is a treatments feasible, in the not too note that the China Kadoorie Bio­ from their population by such area. What is needed is a coherent is Assistant Professor of Genetics, positive development. It is particularly important t hat distant future, thanks to the revo­ bank has been studying half a mil­ means. Looking ahead a bit more, push at the national level that in­ Genomics and Development, Department the U.S. follow through on its ultimatums in this res­ lutionary advances brought about lion people since their recruit­ with large samples the technique volves government, academic in­ of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC pect.