India’s First Diabetes Biobank: A Milestone in Medical Research

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) have commenced India’s first grounded diabetes biomaterials archive in Chennai. This biobank will be serving a paramount function as a resource for supporting scientific research on diabetes by safeguarding biological samples for research use and processing (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
ICMR sets up India's first diabetes biobank in Chennai

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What is the Diabetes Biobank and Its Role in Research?

India’s very first diabetes biobank is formulated to acquire and store blood specimens to support research on the causes, types, and impact of diabetes. It will be an important data source to examine various types of diabetes that exist in India bearing in mind the country’s epidemiology.

It has samples of blood taken from large scale ICMR funded studies such as the ICMR-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study. These samples encompass various diabetic types including the type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes and will greatly be of assistance in future studies.

India’s Growing Diabetes Epidemic: A Call for Action

The creation of the diabetes biobank will go a long way in filling the gap, especially in research on diabetes, all across the world. Thus, by promoting the collaboration of varied types of research organizations, it will contribute to the exploration of new biomarkers to identify the disease’s early stages and define effective individualized therapy for diabetes.

Engaging private sector stakeholders in the growth of biobanks, as well as other relevant study projects, is essential for the application of the outcomes. This partnership is crucial for utilising modern technologies in specimen storage, data handling, and data sharing that will ensure the biobank’s long-term functionality.

India is experiencing a continuous rise in diabetes, with more than one crore people being affected by the disease. These trends include the prevalence of diabetes in at least half of these states including a rise in diabetes in less-developed states and low levels of physical activity. These findings call for an improved public health campaign to address diabetes health in order to enhance its control and/or early prevention across the country.

The start of a diabetes biobank is considered an achievement not only for Indians but for all the world’s population that will help fight diabetes. Given the biobank’s capability to support population-based and interdisciplinary research with an emphasis on the longitudinal design, the biobank will become one of the leading determining factors for the future of stimulating diabetes diagnosis and prevention.

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Reference:

1. ICMR sets up India's first diabetes biobank in Chennai - (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/pharmaceuticals/icmr-sets-up-indias-first-diabetes-biobank-in-chennai/articleshow/116335976.cms?)

Source-Medindia