Page 13 - Annual report 2021-22

Annual Report 2021-22 |

Summary

CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology was conceived as the Centre for Biochemical
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Technology in 1977. The need for genomics data from a diverse Indian population was soon realized
and CBT transformed into IGIB in 2002. From the Indian Genome Variation project, a multi-
institutional consortium, that mapped the variants – SNPs, CNVs, and repeats in around 1000 genes,
IGIB has come a long way in twenty years, sequencing 1000 Indian genomes as part of the IndiGen
project in 2022.

Since its inception as a genomics research unit, IGIB has broadened its research horizons in pace with
global research advancements adopting newer technologies, while sustaining the core mission - ‘To
translate concepts developed in basic biological research to commercially viable technologies for
health care’. The diverse research themes of the institute have together fostered the growth and
impact of scientific research that has been a pillar of strength and reliance in even the worst days of
the pandemic.

IGIB has been at the forefront of the identification of genetic factors amongst the greatly diverse -
culturally and genetically - Indian population. The implications of these findings have been realized for
rare genetic diseases, neurological diseases, hemoglobinopathies, and cardiac diseases. The omics
(genomics, proteomics, and lipidomics) approach in combination with clinical disease knowledge and
model systems aims to understand cardio-respiratory diseases. After decoding the terabytes of
genomics data being generated at the institute, it diverges into research funnels of genetic diseases,
cardiovascular diseases, cancer, tuberculosis, and now COVID-19. Understanding the pathogenesis of
bacterial (tuberculosis) and fungal infections, including antimicrobial resistance, employing genomics
and disease models has been the mainstay of the immunology and infectious disease biology research
at the institute. The interface of biology and chemistry is being explored by studies on protein folding,
long non-coding RNAs, and engineering gene editing tools based on CRISPR-Cas. And finally, all the
cellular and molecular biology knowledge is combined to answer fundamental questions of biology
focusing on neurodegeneration, cancer, and wound healing, thus, paving a path forward for more
translational research.

A diverse array of tools and resources – web-based, gene editing, and therapeutics - have been
developed this year at the institute that is going to help healthcare providers with prognosis, diagnosis,
and disease treatment.

GenomeApp, which has been created using data from 1029 Indian genomes and proteomics-based
scalable diagnostic markers for cardiovascular diseases is going to help clinicians with disease
prognosis. Deep learning-based methods for the detection of interstitial lung disease and intracranial
haemorrhage from CT scans are being developed that would aid clinicians in diagnosis.

Potential antitumor therapies using peptides (derived from NME2, nucleoside diphosphate kinase B),
non-telomeric TRF2 or ZnO-based nanoparticles (complexed with peptides for targeting and