KOCHI: In a path-breaking move that would help Kerala in pandemic preparedness, the state government is going for human genome sequencing to find clinical solutions for diseases such as sickle cell anaemia and dengue.
The Kerala Genome Data Centre (KGDC), a high-capacity facility to enable the harnessing of the power of genomic data, will store and conduct the analysis and management of genomic data for sequencing.
The data centre — coming up in Thiruvananthapuram — is expected to be commissioned by November.
“The Union government has announced a project to eradicate sickle cell anaemia. In Kerala, the disease is widely prevalent in Wayanad and Attappadi. Through genomic sequencing, we will find out if there’s any difference among patients in south India, and how we can provide personalised treatment,” said Dr Raju Rhee, project head of KGDC.
Another genome sequencing project undertaken by KGDC is in dengue treatment. “This year, we have seen a spike in dengue cases. There are four variants of the dengue. We are doing sequencing in a set of patients to find out how the variations are taking place. While it is variants 1 and 2 in some years, it is another variant this year. When a patient reports dengue, we now carry out symptomatic management. When the platelet count decreases, we give more platelets. Through sequencing, we can create antibodies depending on the variations. That’s our larger goal,” explained Dr Rhee.
Genome sequencing is now globally accepted as a more affordable form of clinical care in this era of precision medicine, and this is where KGDC will play a critical role in Kerala, experts pointed out.
Data centre
Kerala Genome Data Centre — to come up in Tvm — will store and conduct analysis and mgmt of genomic data for sequencing
Genome sequencing is a process for analysing DNA samples taken from blood. It is used to determine the entire genetic makeup of a specific organism or cell type.
‘Awaiting approval from health dept’
“With the setting up of the data centre, we will have genomes for reference purposes. For instance, there are four variants of dengue. Once we collect the data, and if there’s a dengue outbreak in 2026, we can refer to the genomes. We can check if there’s a variation from the 2024 genomes, and what medicines can be prescribed," explained Dr Rhee.
Recently, Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board sanctioned Rs 100 crore for KGDC, of which Rs 45 crore will go towards the purchase of hardware such as high-performance computing clusters and the remaining Rs 55 crore will be spent on genomic sequencing.
The data at KGDC would be generated by sequencing samples from a variety of sources, including humans, animals, plants, and environmental samples.
For the moment, genome sequencing in sickle cell anaemia and dengue will be done as a priority project for Kerala.
“We want to do projects that have an impact. Value is definitely with human genomes,” he said, adding that KGDC has submitted the proposal to the health secretary Rajan Khobragade. “We have discussed the matter with him and are awaiting approval from the health department,” said Dr Rhee.
KGDC is currently functioning as a think-tank and advisory body under the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council.
According to Dr Rhee, Kerala has a very advanced healthcare system and that’s the reason why we diagnose diseases first.
“Covid was first diagnosed in Kerala because we have a system in place. But diagnosing alone won’t solve the problem. We need to treat the disease,” he said.