Scientist Giriraj R. Chandak
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) is collaborating with 20 research groups across the world on a ground-breaking integrated genomics and epigenomics study to understand the genetics behind Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in diverse populations, including South Asians.
The project — “Diverse Epigenetic Epidemiology Partnership (DEEP)” — is to uncover the effects of genomic and environmental diversity in disease risk observed in people across the world, including those in Asia, Africa and North and South America.
“This collaborative study involving scientists with varied expertise provides a unique opportunity to understand gene-gene and gene-environment interaction and their role in intermediate traits associated with NCDs or the disease itself,” explained co-principal researcher, senior scientist and Sir J.C. Bose Fellow Giriraj R. Chandak, in an official release on Thursday.
While NCDs such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and mental disorders are on rise throughout the world, especially in India and other South Asian countries, a huge variation in disease onset and symptoms for people living in different global regions has been observed. Much of the population health research conducted till date has drawn heavily on data collected from people of white European origins leaving many global communities under-represented in health studies.
Genetic databases for genomic research need diversity to help all people and to get a better understanding of which factors are causing differences in gene regulation and therefore differences in disease risk, said Bristol University (UK) research fellows Josine Min and Hannah Elliott.
Dr. Chandak has been working for the last two decades using multiple cohorts to understand how genetic basis for NCDs in Indians is responsible for clinical peculiarities and how the risk can be modulated by targeted approaches, including nutrition such micronutrients.
CSIR-CCMB’s studies have provided evidence of different genetic structure of Indians and its implications for common diseases like type 1 and 2 diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, etc. It also showed a new paradigm in the role of environment, especially micronutrients like vitamin B12, folates, in modifying the disease risk through epigenetic regulation, he said.
DNA methylation (DNAm), a type of epigenetic modification, helps the body to respond to environmental signals and ultimately contributes to whole system health and disease status. Understanding relationships between DNAm, genetics and environment is essential for understanding pathways of health, disease and consequences. DEEP researchers will be studying individuals representing diverse genetic and environmental contexts and learn which DNA methylation patterns contribute to their disease risk in each context, said Dr. Chandak.
About 13,000 participants, including from India, are to be part of the project which got a fund of ₹25 crore recently by the Medical Research Council, UK. Researchers from the University of Bristol, UK and Medical Research Unit – The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, are also involved in the research.
The study will enable identification of disease-causing mechanisms common worldwide and also unique to particular groups or regions. It will help with answering questions such as whether medicines developed in one part of the world will be effective for all. Ultimately it hopes to enable targeted interventions and reduce global health disparity and inequity, added the release.
