Overview

• Union Minister Jitendra Singh formally inaugurated the Phenome India National Biobank at CSIR-IGIB on July 6, marking the start of its operational phase.
• The initiative will build a long-term cohort by collecting genomic, lifestyle and clinical data from 10,000 volunteers across India.
• The biobank’s design draws on the UK Biobank model while tailoring recruitment to India’s geographic, ethnic and socio-economic diversity.
• High-resolution datasets are expected to fuel AI-driven diagnostic tools and support development of gene-guided therapies.
• Collaborations among government agencies, research institutions and industry aim to translate cohort insights into personalized treatments for India’s disease burden.