India's First Diabetes Biobank Established in Chennai By ICMR - Video

The country's first diabetes biobank, a repository of population-based biological samples aimed at supporting scientific research, has been established in Chennai by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration with the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF).

The biobank set up at the MDRF, Chennai aims to gather, process, store and distribute biospecimens to assist scientific studies with the permission of the ICMR.

The biobank will facilitate advanced research on the causes of diabetes, the variations of the Indian type of diabetes and related disorders, said Dr V Mohan, chairman of the MDRF and Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre. The biobank has blood samples from two ICMR-funded studies. A plethora of blood samples of different types of diabetes in the young, such as Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes, have been stored for future studies and research, Mohan said.

The process of setting up the biobank started around two years ago. The details of the biobank and the purpose behind setting it up have been explained in detail in an article published in the “Indian Journal of Medical Research” last week. Biobanks are critical in biomedical research, collecting, processing, storing and distributing biospecimens to support scientific research, the article said.

“This diabetes biobank could help in the identification of novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and the development of personalised treatment strategies,” it added. Additionally, it would support longitudinal studies to track the progression of diabetes and its complications over time, leading to better management and prevention strategies.

“By fostering collaborative research efforts, a diabetes biobank in India could significantly advance our understanding of the disease and contribute to the global fight against the diabetes epidemic,” the article said.

Reference: https://www.ptinews.com/story/national/icmr-sets-up-india-s-first-diabetes-biobank-in-chennai/2088147