Genome sequencing and the Genome India Project (GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Why in news?
- The Department of Biotechnology recently said that the exercise to sequence 10,000 Indian human genomes and create a database under the Centre-backed Genome India Project is about two-thirds complete.
- About 7,000 Indian genomes have already been sequenced of which 3,000 are available for public access to researchers.
What is genome sequencing?
- The human genome is the entire set of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) residing in the nucleus of every cell of the human body. It carries the complete genetic information responsible for the development and functioning of an organism.
- The DNA consists of a double-stranded molecule built up by four bases. While the sequence of base pairs is identical in all humans, there are differences in the genome of every human being that makes them unique.
- The process of deciphering the order of base pairs, to decode the genetic fingerprint of a human is called genome sequencing.
Human Genome Project:
- In 1990, a group of scientists began to work on determining the whole sequence of the human genome under the Human Genome Project.
- The Project released its latest version of the complete human genome in 2023, with a 0.3% error margin.
- The process of whole-genome sequencing, made possible by the Human Genome Project, now facilitates the reading of a person’s individual genome to identify differences from the average human genome.
What are applications of sequencing?
- Genome sequencing has been used to evaluate rare disorders, preconditions for disorders and even cancer from the viewpoint of genetics, rather than as diseases of certain organs.
- Nearly 10,000 diseases including cystic fibrosis and thalassemia are known to be the result of a single gene malfunctioning. In public health, however, sequencing has been used to read the codes of viruses.
- One of its first practical usages was in 2014, when a group of scientists from M.I.T and Harvard sequenced samples of Ebola from infected African patients to show how genomic data of viruses could reveal hidden pathways of transmission.
How did it help during the pandemic?
- In January 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Chinese scientist Yong-Zhen Zhang, sequenced the genome of a novel pathogen causing infections in the city of Wuhan. He then shared it with his virologist friend Edward Holmes in Australia, who published the genomic code online.
- It was after this that virologists began evaluating the sequence to try and understand how to combat the virus, track the mutating variants and their intensity and spread, and to come up with a vaccine.
- To enable an effective response against COVID-19, researchers kept track of emerging variants, conducting further studies about their transmissibility, immune escape and potential to cause severe disease.
- India also put in place a sequencing framework, the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia (INSACOG).
- This consortium of labs across the country, was tasked with scanning coronavirus samples from patients and flagging the presence of variants known to have spiked transmission internationally.
What is the Genome India Project?
- India’s 1.3 billion-strong population consists of over 4,600 population groups, many of which are endogamous.
- Thus, the Indian population harbours distinct variations, with disease-causing mutations often amplified within some of these groups. But despite being a large population with diverse ethnic groups, India lacks a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variations.
- Creating a database of Indian genomes allows researchers to learn about genetic variants unique to India’s population groups and use that to customise drugs. About 20 institutions across India are involved in the Project.
Match migrants skills with needs of ageing countries to drive global growth, World Bank report
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- Recently, the World Bank released a report titled, “World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies”.
- As per the report, the share of working-age adults will drop sharply in many countries over the next few decades.
- However, migration can be a unique opportunity for economies and people as well as meet the growth needs of both origin and destination countries.
Details:
- A recent United Nations report showed the world population has reached the eight billion mark and is expected to grow for decades.
- However, mostly developing and poor countries like India are witnessing a rise in young population, while the developed countries have crossed that phase as depopulation has set in.
- The World Bank proposed policies for better migration management in destination, transit and origin countries, underscoring its urgency.
Match-Motive Framework:
- The report discussed the migration trade-offs using a “Match-Motive Framework”.
- The “match” aspect is grounded in labour economics and focuses on how well migrants’ skills and related attributes match the needs of the destination countries and “motive” refers to the circumstances under which a person moves in search of opportunity.
- This determines the extent to which migrants, origin countries and destination countries gain from migration: The stronger the match, the larger the gains.
Policy priorities:
- By combining “match” and “motive,” the framework identified policy priorities for countries of origin, transit and destination and the international community.
- It also discussed how bilateral, plurilateral, or multilateral initiatives and instruments could improve the policy response.
- Origin countries should make labour migration an explicit part of their development strategy.
- Destination countries should encourage migration where the skills migrants bring are in high demand, facilitate their inclusion and address social impacts that raise concerns among their citizens.
- The World Bank also urged for international cooperation and multilateral efforts to strengthen the match of migrants’ skills with the needs of destination societies.
How migration can work for development?
- Spain, with a population of 47 million, is projected to shrink by more than one-third by 2100, with those above age 65 increasing from 20 per cent to 39 per cent of the population.
- Countries like Mexico, Thailand, Tunisia and Türkiye may soon need more foreign workers because their population is no longer growing.
- Meanwhile, most low-income countries are expected to see rapid population growth, putting them under pressure to create more jobs for young people.
- About 184 million people worldwide, including 37 million refugees, lack citizenship in the country in which they live, according to the report. Less than half, or 43 per cent, live in low- and middle-income countries.
- Migration issues are becoming even more widespread and urgent due to severe divergences between and within countries in terms of real wages, labour market opportunities, demographic patterns and climate costs.
Mysterious 900-foot-deep blue hole discovered in Mexico
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Why in news?
- Recently, scientists have discovered a massive sinkhole off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
- The giant blue hole is around 900 feet deep and scientists have dubbed it the second deepest blue hole found on the Earth.
- The blue holes found on coastal karst platforms around the world, including the Caribbean Sea and the Yucatán Peninsula, contain unique environments within them.
Taam Ja:
- Spread over an area of 13,660 square meters, the giant, underwater cavern is located in the Chetumal Bay and has been named Taam Ja’ which means ‘deep water’ in Mayan.
- The submerged blue hole has a nearly circular shape at its surface with steep sides that form a large conic structure covered by biofilms, sediments, limestone, and gypsum ledges.
Features of Blue hole:
- The blue hole first discovered in 2021 could offer a glimpse of how life evolved through the millennia in the marine world.
- Researchers have in the past found bacteria at such depths in blue hole in the Caribbean, where no other lifeform was found, indicating the evolution of life at those depths.
- The blue hole was found in the central portion of Chetumal Bay, where submerged coastal karstic sinkholes locally named ‘pozas’ have been reported. Researchers conducted scuba dives into the blue hole in September 2021 to conduct chemical water sample extraction.
- A series of discontinuous terraces were detected at water depths, near the eastern and northwestern walls of the blue hole before developing steep and almost vertical slopes.
- They noticed significant variations in salinity and temperature inside the blue hole.
- The surface salinity values were that representative of the brackish conditions of the Chetumal Bay estuary, while salinity values at deep layers inside the blue hole showed that the main water source is seawater.
Fact:
- The deepest blue hole found on the planet is in the South China Sea and is 987 feet deep.
