1 lakh genome and sequencing DNA is done for Covid-19 by DBT: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi: One Lakh Genome and Sequencing DNA has been carried out for Covid-19 so far by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and five Covid-19 biorepositoria with 57,000 samples available for academics and industry for R & D and product development, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Friday.
He also announced that vaccine testing and research facilities would appear on the second campus of the Biotechnology Center (RGCB) Rajiv Gandhi (RGCB).
The center will also have BSL 3 facilities that can handle Airborne viruses such as Coronavirus, Singh said.
He also said the RGCB would be developed as a hub for research and testing several vaccines such as cancer vaccines and for infectious diseases, including Covid-19.
“This will bring great recognition for RGCB in the field of research and development of specific vaccines,” Minister said.
Singh also praised the RGCB model supporting innovative research and biotechnology incubation facilities.
He led a high-level meeting to review the current Covid-19 research status, the development of vaccines and other protocols and contributions made in this direction by each autonomous institution from the biotechnology department in various parts of various parts of the country, said an official statement.
“One Lakh genome, DNA sequencing was carried out for Covid-19 so far by DBT and five Covid-19 biorepositoria with 57,000 samples available for academics and industry for R & D and product development,” Singh said.
Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar, told the meeting that it was one of three institutions in the country that had formed and marked 22 virus cultures including Delta and Delta Plus, said the statement.
ILS has also established a biorepository for 3,000 covid-19 clinical samples containing serum, plasma, saliva, blood, urine and bench as the center of national resources for research by academics and beginners for the development of commercial products.
ILS has done an important work on Covid testing (more than three Lakh RT-PCR tests), 9,000 samples of genome samples collected from Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Maharashtra and immune makers from patients with Covid-19 symptoms and asymptomatic, said the statement .