Indian Genomic Variation Database

The government of India is doing something really fantastic for once. You can see it yourself at http://www.igvdb.res.in/.

Basically, they're mapping genes of pharmacological and medical significance and keeping track of the different haplotypes and Single NucleotidePolymorphisms (SNPs) in the Indian population. They find pretty vital things about the population's response to drugs. For example, they found that 13% of the North Indian population is unresponsive to 30 of the major drugs used by doctors.

Such discoveries could pave the path to tailor-made treatments and should, probably, lower the medical expenses for the Indian people. Obviously, if they know that they're resistant to a particular expensive drug, they won't waste their time and money trying it out in ignorance.

This project shall have an impact on things ranging from Asthma to Malaria. I'm really quite excited by this. For some reason, I used to harbour the idea that molecular biology doesn't have much of an application in improving rural health in India. I suppose I'll have to rethink my beliefs now.