Abbreviation | CSIR-IGIB |
---|---|
Established | 1977 |
Type | Government organization |
Purpose | To translate concepts developed in basic biological research to commercially viable technologies for health care |
Location |
|
Director | Anurag Agrawal |
Parent organization | Council of Scientific and Industrial Research |
Website | www |
CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) is a scientific research institute devoted primarily to biological research. It is a part of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India. [1]
The institute was founded in 1977 as the Center for Biochemical Technology with a primary focus on biochemical research, but has since shifted its research focus to integrative biology.
The Institute has two campuses in Delhi. The North Campus is the older of the two campuses and is in the campus of Delhi University, on Mall Road opposite to Jubilee Hall. The new campus is in South Delhi, on Mathura Road at Sukhdev Vihar.
IGIB was established in 1977 as the Center for Biochemical Technology (CBT). The Functional Genomics Unit was established in 1998 with the focus shifting from chemical to genomics research. The institute was renamed "Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology" in 2002.
In 2009, a team at the institute sequenced the genome of the wild-type zebrafish, with about 1.7 billion base pairs. This made the fish, which is native to the Himalayan region, the first vertebrate to have its whole genome sequenced in India, as previously Indian scientists had only sequenced bacteria and plant genomes. [2] [3]
In December 2009, scientists at IGIB performed the first re-sequencing of a human genome in India. [4] [5] [6] The Institute also collaborated on decoding the first Sri Lankan [7] [8] genome and Malaysian genome. [9] The Institute is also a member of the Open Personal Genomics Consortium. [10]
The institute plays a leading role in the understanding of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 in India [11] [12] and across the world. [13] The institute also maintains a number of informatics resources which are key to identification and characterization of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. [14] [15]
Researchers at the institute reported the first high-throughput [16] next-generation sequencing based approach for detection and genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. [17] This approach has been extensively used to understand the genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in the state of Kerala, [18] which has significantly influenced policy and preparedness [19] in the state to curb the spread of the epidemic as well as implementation of evidence based policies. [20]
The institute has been instrumental in creating the concept of MegaLabs for COVID-19 testing and genomic surveillance [21] which also provided the genetic epidemiology of states including Kerala [22] and Andhra Pradesh [23] and Maharashtra [24]
Researchers at the institute also reported the first cases of COVID-19 reinfection in the country [25] apart from identifying a novel clade of SARS-CoV-2 in India named I/A3i. [26] Researchers at the institute also discovered an emerging lineage with N440K mutation in spike protein associated with immune escape. [27] [28] A comprehensive suite for computational resources to understand the genomes and genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 has been maintained. [15] One of the first genetically characterized cases of COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections was reported by the institute. [29]
Researchers at the institute have been instrumental in the development of COVIDSure [30] an Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction based kit for diagnosis of COVID-19 and now widely used in India and marketed by Trivitron Healthcare. [31]
Researchers at CSIR-IGIB also developed the test called FELUDA based on CRISPR gene editing which is highly efficient and fast to combat the testing capacity of the country and has been approved by Drugs Controller General of India. The test has been licensed to Tata Group for commercial production. [32]
The institute has also been playing a leading role in the national COVID-19 genomics consortium [33] and maintains the informatics resources and dashboards. [14]
The institute has initiated a unique programme to use cutting-edge genomic technologies to understand Rare genetic diseases in India and pioneering the application of genomics for Precision Medicine in clinics. One of the programmes which has been initiated on this front is Genomics for Understanding Rare Disease, India Alliance Network (GUaRDIAN). [34] GUaRDIAN is a large-scale collaborative network of clinicians from around India trying to use genomics in clinical practice, with the focused aim to understand genetic structure of rare genetic diseases in India. [35]
The consortium aims at using cutting-edge genomics technology to enable identification of genetic variations in diseases and enable clinicians arrive at precise diagnosis for rare genetic disease. Apart from working closely with clinicians, the consortium aims to foster education, awareness and the widespread adoption of genomic technology in clinical settings, in addition to creating and disseminating the highest standards of genomic data generation and interpretation in India. [36]
In the few years, it has been able to work closely with clinicians in the network to be able to offer proof of principles for the application of Genomics for Precision Medicine. [37] [38] [39] A comprehensive programme for patient referral is also functional. [40]
The IndiGen programme on Public Health Genomics [41] aims to undertake whole genome sequencing of 1000 Indian individuals representing diverse ethnic groups from India. The data generated as part of IndiGen would provide the baseline for allele frequencies of genetic variants for genetic epidemiology and aid policy decisions. The frequencies of clinically relevant genetic variants would form the template for enabling diagnostic approaches for prevalent genetic diseases and also for optimising therapies through pharmacogenomics. A comprehensive resource providing searchable access to the data is also made available [42]
The main IGIB campus is located at Mall Road, New Delhi near Delhi University North Campus. IGIB's alliance with the Biotech/Pharmaceuticals has led to its growth and setting up of two extension centers - one at South Delhi (IGIB Annex at TCGA, Okhla) and the other at Western Delhi at Naraina.
IGIB was a co-host of the 13th meeting of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) in 2008, held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre. [43]
Government Medical College, Kozhikode, also known as Calicut Medical College (CMC), is a school of medicine in Kozhikode in the Indian state of Kerala. The college was established in 1957 as the second medical college in Kerala. With over 3025 beds, it is currently the largest hospital in India and tenth largest in the world. It is also one of India's largest hospitals by area, covering more than 270 acres of land in the outskirts of Kozhikode city. Formerly affiliated to the University of Calicut, the college is now attached to the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS). Calicut Medical College is the most preferred medical college of Kerala during both All India as well as state counsellings for MBBS admission.
Marco A. Marra is a Distinguished Scientist and Director of Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at the BC Cancer Research Centre and Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He also serves as UBC Canada Research Chair in Genome Science for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and is an inductee in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Marra has been instrumental in bringing genome science to Canada by demonstrating the pivotal role that genomics can play in human health and disease research.
GISAID, the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data, previously the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data, is a global science initiative established in 2008 to provide access to genomic data of influenza viruses. The database was expanded to include the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other pathogens. The database has been described as "the world's largest repository of COVID-19 sequences". GISAID facilitates genomic epidemiology and real-time surveillance to monitor the emergence of new COVID-19 viral strains across the planet.
The National Centre for Disease Control is an institute under the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It was established in July 1963 for research in epidemiology and control of communicable diseases and to reorganize the activities of the Malaria Institute of India. It has nine branches at Alwar, Bengaluru, Trivandrum, Calicut, Coonoor, Jagdalpur, Patna, Rajahmundry and Varanasi to advise the respective state governments on public health. The headquarters are in Sham Nath Marg, in New Delhi.
Samir Kumar Brahmachari is an Indian biophysicist and Former Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Former Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India. He is the Founder Director of Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), New Delhi and the Chief Mentor of Open Source for Drug Discovery (OSDD) Project. He is the recipient of J.C Bose Fellowship Award, DST (2012). In addition, he is one of the featured researchers in the India Cancer Research Database developed by Institute of Bioinformatics (IOB), Bangalore with support from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
Taruna Madan Gupta, born on 14 May 1968 in New Delhi, is an Indian scientist F and Head of the Department of Innate Immunity at the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH) in Mumbai, India. She has extensively worked on Aspergillosis and Lung Surfactant Proteins, with her research now more focused on role of Innate Immunity in host-pathogen interactions.
Dr. Vinod Scaria FRSB, FRSPH is an Indian biologist, medical researcher pioneering in Precision Medicine and Clinical Genomics in India. He is best known for sequencing the first Indian genome. He was also instrumental in the sequencing of The first Sri Lankan Genome, analysis of the first Malaysian Genome sequencing and analysis of the Wild-type strain of Zebrafish and the IndiGen programme on Genomics for Public Health in India
Mitali Mukerji is a Professor and Head of the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering, IIT Jodhpur. She was formerly a Chief Scientist at the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology with notable achievement in the field of human genomics and personalized medicine. She is best known for initiating the field of "Ayurgenomics" in partnership with her colleague Dr. Bhavana Prasher under the mentorship of Prof. Samir K. Brahmachari. Ayurgenomics is an innovative study, blending the principles of Ayurveda- the traditional Indian system of medicine- with genomics. Mukerji is also a major contributor in the Indian Genome Variation Consortium, a comprehensive database that is producing "the first genetic landscape of the Indian population", and has been an author in many publications that use IGV databases to study population genomics. Mukerji has done extensive research on hereditary ataxias, and is involved in many other projects related to tracking disease origins and mutational histories. She is the recipient of the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 2010 for her contribution in the field of Medical Sciences.
Srinivasan Ramachandran is an Indian biologist, bioinformatician and a senior principal scientist at the department of genome analysis of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology. Known for his studies in the field of data analytics, Ramachandran is also an adjunct faculty, senior Principal Scientist and AcSIR Professor at the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences in 2007.
Anurag Agrawal is an Indian pulmonologist, medical researcher, Dean of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University, and the former director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, a CSIR institution. Known for his studies on lung diseases, Agrawal has been a senior fellow of the DBT-Wellcome Trust. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 2014. He is also a recipient of the National Bioscience Award for Career Development of the Department of Biotechnology which he received in 2015 and the 2020 Sun Pharma Science Foundation award in Medical Sciences.
Shantanu Sengupta is an Indian cell biologist and a professor at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. At IGIB, he coordinates the activities of the National Facility for Biochemical and Genomic Resources (NFBGR) and the Proteomics and Structural Biology Unit of the institute. He is a member of the executive council of the Proteomic Society, India and is known for his studies of cardiovascular diseases from a genetic perspective as well as of Homocysteine with regard to its toxicity and its role in epigenetic modifications. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles has listed 149 of them. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2011.
Munia Ganguli is an Indian biochemist, biotechnologist and a scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB). She is known for the development of non-invasive protocols of drug delivery and the team led by her was successful in developing a drug delivery system for skin disorders, using a nanometer-sized peptide complex carrying plasmid DNA which has since shown effective penetration and apparently without harming the skin. She holds two patents for the processes she has developed. At IGIB, she has established her laboratory where she hosts several research scholars and scientists. Her studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles has listed 76 of them.
Debasis Dash is an Indian computational biologist and chief scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB). Known for his research on proteomics and Big Data and Artificial Intelligence studies, his studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles has listed 120 of them. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2014. He is appointed as the director of Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar on 18 May 2023.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the provisional name 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and has also been called human coronavirus 2019. First identified in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, the World Health Organization designated the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern from January 30, 2020, to May 5, 2023. SARS‑CoV‑2 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is contagious in humans.
The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala was confirmed in Thrissur on 30 January 2020. As of 5 April 2022, there have been 65,34,352 confirmed cases, test positivity rate is at 2.04%, with 64,62,811 (98.91%) recoveries and 68,197 (1.04%) deaths in the state.
The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh was reported in Nellore on 12 March 2020. A 24-year-old who was confirmed positive for coronavirus. He had travel history to Italy. The Andhra Pradesh Health department has confirmed a total of 5,37,687 cases, including 4,702 deaths and 4,35,467 recoveries, as of 10 September. The virus has spread in 13 districts of the state, of which East Godavari has the highest number of cases.
The COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) was a group of public health agencies and academic institutions in the United Kingdom created in April 2020 to collect, sequence and analyse genomes of SARS-CoV-2 as part of COVID-19 pandemic response. The consortium comprised the UK's four public health agencies, National Health Service organisations, academic partners and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. The consortium was known for first identifying the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant in November 2020. As of January 2021, 45% of all SARS-CoV-2 sequences uploaded to the GISAID sequencing database originated from COG-UK.
Jemma Louise Geoghegan is a Scottish-born evolutionary virologist, based at the University of Otago, New Zealand, who specialises in researching emerging infectious diseases and the use of metagenomics to trace the evolution of viruses. As a leader in several government-funded research projects, Geoghegan became the public face of genomic sequencing during New Zealand's response to COVID-19. Her research has contributed to the discussion about the likely cause of COVID-19 and the challenges around predicting pandemics. She was a recipient of the Young Tall Poppy Award in 2017, a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in 2020, and the 2021 Prime Minister's Emerging Scientist Prize.
INSACOG is the forum set up under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare by the Government of India on 30 December 2020, to study and monitor genome sequencing and virus variation of circulating strains of COVID-19 in India. Initially it was tasked to study the virus variant Lineage B.1.1.7 earlier found in United Kingdom in December 2020.
Aditya Prasad Dash, who hails from the Indian State of Odisha, is an Indian biologist with special interest in malaria and vector borne diseases. His areas of interest include biomedical science, transmission biology of tropical disease, and modern biology of disease vectors. According to Vidwan, the national network for researchers and experts, Dash has authored 320 publications co-authored 699 publications. Since September 2020, Dash has been serving as the Vice Chancellor of Asian Institute of Public Health (AIPH) in Bhubaneswar. Before joining AIPH, he was the Vice Chancellor of Central University of Tamil Nadu during the period from August 2015 to August 2020. He had also worked at the World Health Organization (WHO) as the Regional Advisor for the South-East Region. He has also worked as the Director of the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), New Delhi, of the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar and of the National Institute for Research on Tribal Health, Jabalpur.