IndiGen Programme aims to undertake whole genome sequence of thousands of individuals representing diverse ethnic groups from India. It also strives to enable genetic epidemiology and develop public health technologies applications using population genome data.
IndiGen project selected the 1000-odd persons from a pool of about 5,000 and sought to include representatives from every state and diverse ethnicities. Every person whose genome are sequenced would be given a report. The participants would be informed if they carry gene variants that make them less responsive to certain classes of medicines.
The major application of the project is on health study of Indian population. Genome sequencing suggest that cancers can also be understood from perspective of genetics. Considering India to be suffering from burden of NCDs, the project could be fruitful.