Even as the whole of a baby’s genetic code - genome - was sequenced, analysed and results given to doctors within 50 hours in an intensive care unit at a US hospital on Thursday, taking a big step forward in the speed of analysing the DNA of seriously ill babies with genetic diseases, a laboratory in Kochi has completed the whole genome sequencing and analysis of a Malayali woman, the first of its kind in the state and second in the country, the first one being the genome sequencing and analysis of a man from Jharkhand in New Delhi.
This is a breakthrough in predictive diagnosis and will help detect potential diseases and offer personalised treatment for them. The genome analyse will reveal the potential risk and customised medicine can be given.
For instance warfarin is used for cardiovascular diseases but all may not respond to it, it may cause bleeding in some, this can be prevented with genome analysis.
“In five to 10 years the immunisation vaccine for babies can be given at the genome level. Sequencing is easy but the analysis was done manually. We need to automate it. We have met the expenses of the whole process but unless the government or other agencies support us we will not be able to do more sequencing and analysis to develop the required data base,” said Dr George Thomas, director of SciGenom Laboratories.
Initially it will cost around `5 to `10 lakh but once the numbers go up, the rates will come down.
Moreover, in one shot, test for about hundred diseases can be done. Moreover, the same disease is of various kinds. The technology used is Next Generation Sequencing. Since Kerala has diverse population, genome sequencing and analysis of people in different regions, including tribal belts can be done and database made.
If more people undergo the test and a strong database is made the expenses will come down. This will help in offering better healthcare.
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