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Karachi University’s Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research Institute’s doctor Pranjuany, in collaboration with Beijing Genomics Institute has developed Genome structure of Pakistani citizens.
This marks Pakistan to become 6^th country in the world to perform this task while United States, Europe, Africa, India and Jewish citizens’s genome maps were already being developed.
In Pakistan, Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry, head of the project, got volunteered support of Dr. Atta Ur Rehman who is former federal minister and pattern of Karachi University’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences.
Genome of a living person is like an image that has all the information about him. It can be termed as software that carries information in it. Like where his ancestors came from, how is his personality, his physical features, how is the color, the ethnicity and mental capacity, etc.
More details such as what diseases he/she is suffering from or which diseases are likely to attack are also made available. All this information is coded in the Genomes.
Elaborating further on genomes, Dr. Iqbal said that there are 300 hundred billion genomes in one human cell.
Core genome for all the human beings is almost same with little differences that categorize them and makes it possible to differentiate on the basis of race and identity.
Project cost a total of 40 thousand dollars out of which half was paid by Beijing Institute.
Genome maps of different areas of Pakistan will be developed in the coming days and DNA testing will start in Gawadar and costal areas in the first phase. Genome maps of residents of Kailash will also be developed.