The development opens up newer possibilities in disease diagnostics treatment and sustaining low-cost drugs in the market and puts India in line with the US, UK, Canada, China and Korea.

The announcement was made by Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour on Tuesday, and also later at a press conference alongwith officials and the team of scientists involved in the research.

Chavan said at the press conference that the CSIR could achieve this jointly with the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) by adopting new technologies and effectively integrating complex computational tools with high analytical capabilities.

The sequencing of the first human genome in India sets the stage for India's entry into the elite club which, in conjunction with Indian Genome Variation Programme, opens newer vistas for low-cost affordable healthcare and predictive medicine in future, Chavan said.

While the first human genome sequencing effort took more than a decade to complete with over a billion US dollars spending, Indian scientists finished the complete sequencing and assembly in much shorter time comparable with similar recent efforts the world over.

By using next generation technology and skills, they successfully bridged the technological gap that existed a decade ago, the Minister said.#