Hyderabad: A three-day workshop on recent advancements in prenatal genetic testing and diagnosis begin organized at the Institute of Genetics and Hospital for Genetic Diseases, Osmania University began here on Thursday.
It is a well-acknowledged fact that the burden caused by genetic disorders is high in the Indian population. Nearly 10 million children worldwide and 1.7 million in India are born each year with serious birth defects and genetic disorders. In many countries, birth defects are a leading cause of perinatal and neonatal deaths. As per the studies done in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by our institute, the prevalence of birth defects was identified to be 11% which is reported to be higher than WHO (7%). Keeping this in view, this workshop was designed to enlighten clinicians, academicians and researchers on recent techniques developed in prenatal diagnosis since they play a key role in screening for genetic disorders in society.
The workshop was inaugurated by Prof (Dr) Vikas Bhatia, Director, AIIMS, Bibinagar, Prof Mallesham, Dean, Development & UGC Affairs, OU, Prof Balakishan, Dean, Faculty of Science, OU, Prof. Srinivas, Co-ordinator, DST PURSE, Dr Smita Pawar, Director CFRD, OU and other dignitaries. Dr B. Vijayalakshmi, Director, Institute of Genetics welcomed the dignitaries and described the institute’s activities since its establishment and proposed the present insights and future aspects of the institute. Prof Mallesham, stressed on the conduction of awareness program in rural areas and villages to promote available genetic testing and diagnostics. Dr Balakishan, stated the requirement of wide publicity among the staff of the university and other areas around Hyderabad so as to avail the services available at the institute. He even recommended selecting a few aspirational districts for screening and creating awareness regarding genetic disorders. He even advised to put forward a proposal to the University vice-chancellor towards funding for a separate hospital unit.
Prof. Srinivas proposed the establishment of a stem cell bank at the institute. Prof. Smita Pawar recommended that clinicians and molecular biologists should work hand in hand for developing new diagnostic approaches through research. The Chief Guest of the day Dr. Vikas Bhatia, AIIMS, Bibinagar suggested wide publicity through research, publications and services. He even suggested mobile screening services for individuals who are at high risk for genetic diseases and stressed on collaborations with hospitals, research and academic institutions. The inaugural program was concluded by a vote of thanks by Dr. T. Sunitha.For the scientific sessions, National and International experts in the field of Medical Genetics were invited to train the participants. In the forenoon, two speakers covered two different aspects regarding prenatal screening. Dr Ashwin Dalal, Scientist, CDFD, spoke on the changing trends in pre-natal genetic testing from karyotyping to whole-genome sequencing. The second speaker of the day was Dr Ivonne Petermann from Australia, who stressed the importance of resolving complex biology at the single-cell level. In the afternoon session, demonstrations on cell ranger and single-cell libraries were given by technical experts from 10X Genomics. (INN)