The Genome India Project is a significant move for the Indian government, but it also has worth to the world at large. The project will eventually increase the efficiency of agriculture and livestock breeding, aid the discovery of new drugs and diagnostics, help manage health care costs, provide an additional tool for the investigation of disease outbreaks and create a vast library of genes to understand complex biology.
Healthcare: The human genome is the complete set of DNA, present in every cell of an organism. Since the first discovery of the human genome, it has been a subject of intense scientific research and has fired up the imagination regarding its potential applications in the fields of medicine and diagnosis.
Personalised Medicine: Human genome sequencing generates information about the genome of individuals by reading all their DNA. The methodology presents formidable technical challenges, but the cost has fallen dramatically in recent years. Personalized medicine could usefully become a reality in the next few years, supported by an international network of genome sequencing centers.
Determining gene-disease link: Human genomes carry the potential for diseases and it is possible to isolate those tendencies. Since we know what specific chromosomes and genes are responsible for these afflictions it becomes easier to determine whether a particular person is at a greater risk of a disease or not. This understanding can help in improving prognosis, treatment but also reduce the chances of infections as one may be naturally immune.
Better understanding of diseases like cancer: Genome sequencing is a project that aims to yield the complete DNA sequence of organisms' genomes, in their natural state. Genome sequencing can be used for various purposes, including gaining understanding of the potential functions of an organism's genes, identifying mutations and other somatic changes present in cancers and other diseases, and looking for DNA evidence linking criminal suspects or victims to specific crimes.
Drug efficacy: Human Genome Project (HGP) is one of the biggest scientific projects undertaken by the human civilization. Therefore, information regarding drug efficacy or adverse effects of drug use can be obtained on a genomic basis. The DNA sequences are mapped to understand the pharmacogenetic relationships and personalize medications for individual patients.
Agricultural usage: The genome sequencing work conducted by the NCBI over a period of time has illustrated the potential of these techniques in assisting agricultural scientists to better understand the genomics of crop plants at all levels, including the molecular level. The relevance and impact of genomics in addressing the most important challenges in modern plant breeding and agriculture are clearly illustrated by this report.
Evolutionary studies: Human DNA contains the genetic blueprint for all our bodily functions. Just as sequencing of the human genome opened a new era in biomedical science, sequencing the genomes of other life forms could potentially do so for biology generally. A comprehensive pooling, comparison, and characterization of multiple genomes would be of considerable use to disciplines such as evolution, taxonomy, phylogenetics, epidemiology, and others.
There are a plethora of challenges and issues related to genome sequencing. Some of them are:-
Accuracy: Accuracy is a major concern in genome sequencing. We can measure the base sequence of large portions of the genome with great accuracy, and we are learning to do so better with newer technologies. On the other hand, there are many ways that produced reads can be incorrect.
Use of genetic information: The main purpose of a human genome sequence is to identify the genetic variations in the genome. These indicate likely associations with disease or traits that can be further researched by scientists and physicians. Although genomic testing can be conducted for medical indications, there are still other less-studied aspects of a human genome sequence such as: ancestry, genealogy, and forensic science.
Regulation: Every individual has a genome but the genome is dynamic, it changes as we age and can also be impacted by potentially inheritable environmental factors. As more people get their genomes sequenced, we can begin to uncover how gene variants affect our health and wellbeing. We might even uncover some of that elusive 'genetic determinism,' the idea that the text of our genes determines all we are and will be, including mental disorders and degenerative diseases. Today, regulation in India tries to balance the enormous potential benefits to society with the privacy concerns of individuals.
Medical ethics: Whole-genome sequencing is still in its infant stage, but is already creating an uproar among medical ethicists. It is believed that this technology will raise ethical issues related to the privacy and confidentiality of the patient's genome data. These controversial techniques can be used either for diagnostic or for research purposes. There are two applications of genome sequencing mainly- diagnostic and research purposes.
Data and storage: Concerns have been raised about who will store the data. While we need large capacities for computing to be done at centralized data centers, storage is needed at the local hospitals as well. There are issues of privacy as well as security whereby a hacker could access sensitive personal information. But the biggest concern I have is that our government and key private sector players may not be able to safeguard this deep profiling of citizens. It is important for India to create and adopt regulations which protect citizens from misuse of their personal data and sequencing data.
Social issues: There is the question of whether such data can be interpreted to make valid characterizations of people and populations. Biological racism is the idea that people can be superior to others because of their genes. Technological advances in genetic sequencing allow scientists to look at people's DNA and determine certain characteristics about them, from how susceptible they are to certain diseases and their ancestry.
