THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Giving a shot in the arm for the research activities in the health sector of the state, US-based Illumina, an organisation that works in gene sequencing, genotyping and gene expression, gave its in-principle approval for collaborating with the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in research and diagnosis of cancer and other genetic diseases.
The association will be for facilitating better genetic research and to provide new generation technologies for medical diagnosis. “We got intimation that the organisation had responded positively to our request. But we are yet to get an official intimation,” said an RGCB officer.The officer further said, “our proposal towards Illumina was to launch an integrative research programme on cancer genomics and pathology and clinical research.”
According to the officer, the tie-up with Illumina will help carry out cancer research faster, accurately and cost-effectively. It is also said that it might also lead to meaningful advances in personalised medicine.Meanwhile, it is learnt that the collaboration will materialise after a meeting between BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan and Ryan Taft, vice-president, scientific research, Illumina at California. During the meeting, the organisation briefed Rajasekharan about the research activities especially in cancer and population genomics. Owing to high number of cancer cases in the state, it expressed its willingness to collaborate with RGCB.