Phenome India National Biobank | 09 Jul 2025

Source: PIB

The National Biobank, newly inaugurated at CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), marks a key step in creating India’s longitudinal health database, paving the way for data-driven healthcare and personalized medicine.

A longitudinal health study tracks individuals over time to understand disease trends, treatment outcomes, and support population-specific health policies.

National Biobank:

About: A Biobank is a repository that collects, stores, and manages biological samples (such as blood, tissues, and DNA) and health-related data for scientific research.
Objective: Launched under the Phenome India Project, its aim is to build a comprehensive repository reflecting India's diverse population.
- To enable personalized medicine based on individual genetic and lifestyle profiles, support research on chronic and rare diseases relevant to the Indian context.
- Facilitate early diagnosis along with more effective, targeted therapies.
Scope: Biobank will gather genomic, lifestyle, and clinical data from 10,000 diverse Indian participants across regions, age groups, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Significance: Strengthens India's fight against diseases like diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular, and rare genetic disorders.
- Inspired by the UK Biobank, it is tailored to India’s diverse population for targeted, population-specific healthcare.

Phenome India Project:

The Phenome India Project, or Phenome India–CSIR Health Cohort Knowledgebase (PI-CHeCK), is a pan-India, long-term study launched by CSIR in 2023 to track individual health over time.
It aims to uncover disease patterns, gene-environment interactions, and develop India-specific risk models for cardio-metabolic diseases.

Phenome:

Phenome is the full set of observable traits in an individual, shaped by the interaction of their genes and the environment.
It includes physical features, behaviors, and disease risks, essentially, the visible outcome of genetic instructions.