National Biobank Launched Under Phenome India Project At CSIR-IGIB

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the National Biobank under the Phenome India Project at CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi.

The initiative aims to build a longitudinal health database to advance personalised medicine and disease research in India.

Longitudinal data is information collected through a series of repeated observations of the same individual over some extended time frame. Longitudinal patient data provides a full view of how a person has interacted with various aspects of healthcare – primary care, emergency visits, prescriptions, medication adherence, and more.

Biobank

A biobank is a repository that stores biological samples, such as blood, DNA, cells, tissues, and organs, for research purposes.
They play a vital role in precision medicine by providing valuable information for studying diseases and developing targeted treatments.

India has 19 registered biobanks housing diverse biological specimens, including cancer cell lines and tissues.

Paediatric Rare Genetic Disorders (PRaGeD) Mission: This mission works towards identifying new genes or genetic variants to develop targeted therapies for rare genetic diseases affecting children.
Phenome India Project: Focused on creating better prediction models for cardio-metabolic diseases.

It will support a nationwide cohort study of 10,000 individuals, collecting genomic, lifestyle, and clinical data. Modeled after the UK Biobank, it is adapted for India’s diversity in geography, ethnicity, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Researchers expect it to enable early diagnosis, improved therapy targeting, and fight against complex diseases like diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular ailments, and rare genetic disorders.
Designed as a long-term, data-rich study, tracking health trajectories to reveal disease patterns, gene-environment interactions, and therapy responses in an Indian context.

Launched by: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on December 7, 2023.
Nature of Study: India’s first pan-India longitudinal health monitoring study focused on cardio-metabolic diseases.

Phenome refers to the entirety of an organism’s observable characteristics, encompassing physical, biochemical, and behavioral traits, which are shaped by both genetic and environmental influences.

Involves around 10,000 individuals—including CSIR employees, pensioners, and their spouses—from 17 states and 24 cities.
Objective: To develop India-specific risk prediction models for cardio-metabolic conditions like diabetes, liver diseases, and heart diseases.
- To understand disease patterns unique to the Indian population, which differ from Western cohorts due to ethnic and lifestyle differences

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