New initiative to make best use of microorganisms
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT)’s Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC) has launched an ‘One Day, One Genome’ initiative to help make the best use of genome sequence data of various microorganisms in the country.
Microorganisms are crucial for our ecosystem. They play a critical role in agriculture, environment and human health. In agriculture, they help immensely in nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation, maintaining soil fertility, controlling pest and weeds and stress responses. They are symbiotically associated with plants and help them in nutrient and water uptake.
In the area environment, they contribute immensely in all biogeochemical cycles, soil formation, mineral purification, degradation of organic wastes and toxic pollutants along with methane production. Cumulatively they help to maintain the homeostasis in our planet.
As for human health, they are an indispensable part of the human body. There are many more microbial cells than the number of human cells in a human body. They are essential for digestion, immunity and even mental health. While it is true that all infectious diseases are mainly caused by pathogenic microorganisms, it is also true that non-pathogenic microorganisms are indispensable for the body’s defence against infectious diseases.
The modern tools of genome sequencing have helped in the visualisation of the hidden potential of the microbial world to the community at large. Sequencing data can be analysed to identify the genome encoded capacities for various important enzymes, among other things.
Under the new initiative, the genomic data of all the microorganisms would be put out in the public domain at the rate of one genome per day for scientists and other stakeholders to make use of the information for further development into products that would be of use to humanity at large. The activity will be coordinated by National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (BRIC-NIBMG), which is located in Kalyani, West Bengal.
