The Minister of Science and Technology and Vice President of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr HarshVardhan inaugurated the 2nd TCGA 2020 conferencein New Delhi.
The sequencing of the genomes of normal and cancer cells is critical for efficient diagnosis, prognosis and drug discovery. The Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA) project is expected to launch a new era in translating genomic discoveries into better clinical care. It has been initiated by a consortium of key stakeholders in India led by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR), Government of India.
The Aim of the Indian Cancer Genome Atlas is to create indigenous, open-source and comprehensive database of molecular profiles of all cancers prevalent in Indian population to better understand the underlying factors patient by patient.
Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a landmark cancer genomics program that molecularly characterized over 20,000 primary cancers and matched normal samples spanning 33 cancer types. It is a joint effort between the US- National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute began in 2006 bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines and multiple institutions.
The aims of the cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is to catalogue and discover major cancer-causing genomic alterations to create a comprehensive “atlas” of cancer genomic profiles.
It is being implemented by the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi and CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad.
IndiGen programme aims to undertake whole genome sequencing of thousands of individuals representing diverse ethnic groups from India.
The Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) study is an international collaboration to identify common patterns of mutation in more than 2,600 cancer whole genomes from the International Cancer Genome Consortium.
The project revealed the most comprehensive gene map of the genes whose departures from normal behaviour — mutations — trigger a cascade of genetic misbehaviours that eventually lead to cancer.