Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) launched

  • IASbaba
  • January 1, 2021
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Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) launched

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Health

In news 

  • Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) was recently launched. 
  • Coordinated by: Department of Biotechnology (DBT) along with MoH&FW, ICMR, and CSIR

Key takeaways 

  • The consortium will ascertain the status of new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country. 
  • INSACOG will have a high level Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee. 
  • It will have a Scientific Advisory Group for scientific and technical guidance.
  • Aim: To monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2 on a regular basis through a multi-laboratory network.
  • This vital research consortium will also assist in developing potential vaccines in the future. 
  • The consortium will also establish a sentinel surveillance for early detection of genomic variants with public health implication, and determine the genomic variants in the unusual events/trends (super-spreader events, high mortality/morbidity trend areas etc.).

Do you know? 

  • A new variant, which was found in the UK, especially in the London region, is defined by multiple mutations in the Spike region, as well as mutations in other genomic regions. 
  • As per DBT, these mutations are rapidly increasing the number of variants of the virus. 
  • This variant is significantly more transmissible than previously circulating variants, with an estimated potential to increase the reproductive number with an estimated increased transmissibility of up to 70%. 

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