The Hindu : Karnataka / Gulbarga News : `Function of genes, a challenge for scientists'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 30, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Gulbarga

`Function of genes, a challenge for scientists'

By Our Special Correspondent

GULBARGA, DEC. 29. The director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Lalji Singh, on Wednesday said that one of the biggest challenges before the scientists in future was to ascertain the function of "junk DNA" in the human genome.

He was delivering a special lecture on "The Human genome: a gift of 20th Century and challenge for 21st" after inaugurating the SERC School in Chronobiology, sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology in the Zoology Department of the Gulbarga University here.

Prof. Singh said that extensive collaboration and research amongst clinicians, epidemiologists, geneticists, mathematicians and computer experts would be required to solve this puzzle and the genetic underpinning of complex diseases that affect millions.

He said that human genome sequencing had stirred the scientific world in more than many ways and apart from deciphering the biological meaning of the sequence language written in three billion letters, the scientists were essentially confronted with many other challenges.

The development would not only revolutionise the field of genetics but also help in identifying genetic diseases, preventing them, modifying the risk, and finding a cure. The integration of medicine and molecular biology is expected to lead to a better health care system by following a designed way of life based on individual genetic make up, he added.

Prof. Singh that the technological breakthrough achieved had made it possible to analyse genome at a larger scale.

The emerging technologies of DNA Chip, Microarray, Proteomics, Comparative genomics, structural biology, bioinformatics, and gene knockout would help determine the functions of most genes and understanding their interaction with environment factors and relation with human behaviour.

He said this knowledge would be useful in relieving human suffering by discovery of new drugs using transgenic animal models for human diseases. However, these technologies were very expensive and developing countries like India would find it very difficult to provide the required facilities to every institution and university.

Prof. Singh said that since future medicine was going to be based on individual genotype, it was necessary that everyone had access to the facility.

He said that the availability of human genome sequence had raised several ethical and moral questions regarding the confidentiality of sharing of genomic information and whether society was ready to respond to it.

Prof. Singh said that there were 4,684 anthropologically well-defined endogamous groups, of which 427 were tribal communities, including sub tribes, in the Indian subcontinent.

Four tribes in Andaman and Nicobar islands are on the verge of extinction owing to their small population. These communities were totally untouched by human civilisation and were fittest to survive in their environment.

They could be used to mapping new genes, particularly recessive traits, understanding the genetics of their immune system responsible for their survival, and tracing the origin and history of mankind.

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