CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) is a scientific

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

devoted primarily to biological research. It is a part of

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the l ...

(CSIR), India. 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.

Location

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 Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

, on Mall Road opposite to Jubilee Hall. The new campus is in

South Delhi South Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India with its headquarters in Saket. Administratively, the district is divided into three subdivisions, Saket, Hauz Khas, and Mehrauli. It is bounded by t ...

, on Mathura Road at Sukhdev Vihar.

History

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.

Achievements

In 2009, a team at the institute sequenced the

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

of the wild-type

zebrafish The zebrafish (''Danio rerio'') is a freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family ( Cyprinidae) of the order Cypriniformes. Native to South Asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio (and thus often ...

, with about 1.7 billion base pairs. This made the fish, which is native to the Himalayan region, the first

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

to have its whole genome sequenced in India, as previously Indian scientists had only sequenced bacteria and plant genomes. In December 2009, scientists at IGIB performed the first re-sequencing of a human genome in India. The Institute also collaborated on decoding the first Sri Lankan genome and Malaysian genome. The Institute is also a member of the Open Personal Genomics Consortium.

COVID-19 pandemic

The institute plays a leading role in the understanding of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 in India and across the world. The institute also maintains a number of informatics resources which are key to identification and characterization of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. Researchers at the institute reported the first high-throughput next-generation sequencing based approach for detection and genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. This approach has been extensively used to understand the genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, which has significantly influenced policy and preparedness in the state to curb the spread of the epidemic as well as implementation of evidence based policies. The institute has been instrumental in creating the concept of MegaLabs for COVID-19 testing and genomic surveillance which also provided the genetic epidemiology of states including Kerala and Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra Researchers at the institute also reported the first cases of COVID-19 reinfection in the country apart from identifying a novel clade of SARS-CoV-2 in India named I/A3i. Researchers at the institute also discovered an emerging lineage with N440K mutation in spike protein associated with immune escape. A comprehensive suite for computational resources to understand the genomes and genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 has been maintained. One of the first genetically characterized cases of COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections was reported by the institute. Researchers at the institute have been instrumental in the development of COVIDSure an

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA (in this context called complementary DNA or cDNA) and amplification of specific DNA targets using polymerase cha ...

based kit for diagnosis of COVID-19 and now widely used in India and marketed by Trivitron Healthcare. Researchers at CSIR-IGIB also developed the test called FELUDA based on

CRISPR gene editing CRISPR gene editing (pronounced "crisper") is a genetic engineering technique in molecular biology by which the genomes of living organisms may be modified. It is based on a simplified version of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defense sys ...

which is highly efficient and fast to combat the testing capacity of the country and has been approved by

Drugs Controller General of India Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) is the head of department of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization of the Government of India responsible for approval of licences of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood p ...

. The test has been licensed to

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...

for commercial production. The institute has also been playing a leading role in the national COVID-19 genomics consortium and maintains the informatics resources and dashboards.

Genomics of rare genetic diseases

The institute has initiated a unique programme to use cutting-edge genomic technologies to understand Rare

genetic diseases A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality. Although polygenic disorders ...

in India and pioneering the application of genomics for

Precision Medicine Precision, precise or precisely may refer to: Science, and technology, and mathematics Mathematics and computing (general) * Accuracy and precision, measurement deviation from true value and its scatter * Significant figures, the number of digit ...

in clinics. One of the programmes which has been initiated on this front is Genomics for Understanding Rare Disease, India Alliance Network (GUaRDIAN). 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. 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. 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. A comprehensive programme for patient referral is also functional.

IndiGen Programme for Public Health

The IndiGen programme on Public Health Genomics 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

Extension Centers (Branches)

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.

International Meetings

IGIB was a co-host of the 13th meeting of the

Human Genome Organization The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) is a non-profit organization founded in 1988. HUGO represents an international coordinating scientific body in response to initiatives such as the Human Genome Project. HUGO has four active committees, includin ...

(HUGO) in 2008, held at

Hyderabad International Convention Centre The Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy City, abbreviated as HITEC City, is an Indian information technology, engineering, health informatics, and bioinformatics, financial business district located in Hyderabad, Telan ...

.HGM-2008 website
.

References

External links

IGIB Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute Of Genomics And Integrative Biology Scientific organisations based in India Genomics Bioinformatics organizations Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Biological research institutes Research institutes in Delhi Research institutes established in 1977 1977 establishments in Delhi