India has launched diabetes biobank in Chennai pushing forward the fight against a big health challenge. The establishment of the biobank was in collaboration between the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, both of which are India-based.
Diabetic cases have now emerged as one of the major public health issues in India. The cases of diabetes amount to over 100 million and prediabetes cases to over 136 million, one of the highest in the world. Yet, despite the massive scale of the disease, the country has not had a large-scale biological sample depository to research its causes and effects. This biobank offers a good chance to scientists to explore genetics, the environment, or lifestyle which may be implicated in this disease in an Indian context.
There exist over 150,000 blood, tissue, and DNA samples housed in this biobank, collected from varied locations across India. These samples would be helpful for studies like the ICMR-INDIAB study, described as one of the largest diabetes studies in India, and also a ICMR-YDR which is a national registry based on early onset diabetes.
These samples will also help researchers who will be able to prepare targeted treatments, prevention methods, and much more personalized methods of medicine using these samples. The protocols of the quality and integrity of samples have been strictly implemented keeping ICMR guidelines in view. Future developments will see automation by artificial intelligence and robotics which is expected to boost the efficiency and capability of the biobank.
The uniqueness of the diabetes biobank in India lies in its focus on the disease affecting a large portion of the population; its establishment points to a crying need for specialized research infrastructure in the country. While there exist Indian biobanks specifically focusing on cancer, liver disease, and other health conditions, there has been a chronic deficiency of a diabetes-specific repository.
Internationally, biobanks have been a significant driver in advancing medical research, and India’s diabetes biobank is no exception. With the attention it has received globally, especially in countries like the UK and the US, the new resource in India can make vital contributions to diabetes research and bring about better public health outcomes.
