They are targeting numerous castes and tribes across Northern India. They dedicate a fair amount of time—often 15-20 days or even up to a month—to gather samples from each community. They work with community leaders, communicate their purpose, and collect blood or saliva, whatever they are comfortable donating.

Inclusivity is paramount for ensuring comprehensive understanding and equitable outcomes.

• Diverse Representation: It better represents the full spectrum of human genetic diversity, leading to findings that are more broadly applicable.
• Targeted Interventions: It facilitates the identification of genetic risk factors that may be unique to certain ethnic groups or geographic regions, informing targeted interventions and treatments that address the specific needs of different populations.
• Historical Insights: It helps to understand human population history, migration patterns, and evolutionary processes, shedding light on the complex interplay between genetics, culture, and geography.
• Ethical Perspective: It is vital to prevent perpetuating marginalization and respect the rights and dignity of all individuals and communities involved.

The project encompasses studying phenotype assiciations such as medical histories, diagnostic test results, treatment responses, and health outcomes, etc. They aim to give a more comprehensive understanding of the genetic basis of diseases and their manifestations in different populations and enable:

• The identification of genotype-phenotype correlations, which elucidate how genetic variations influence disease risk, progression, and treatment response.
• Researchers to validate genetic findings in real-world patient populations, enhancing the robustness and reliability of research findings.
• Development of personalized medicine approaches, guiding clinicians in selecting optimal treatments tailored to individual patients’ genetic profiles.

The biobanking community has faced major ethical breaches, but Gyan Lab is extremely careful to avoid these pitfalls. They start by talking to community heads and explaining their goals. This engagement happens on multiple levels. For example, when one community member wanted to see their research facility to understand their operations better, they brought them to the lab. He made a video of their visit and shared it with others in their community, which helped everyone feel comfortable about donating.

To ensure clarity, they present our ethical documents in multiple dialects, and donors can opt-out anytime. This approach builds trust and eases concerns, making the donation process smoother and more transparent.

They’re excited about future collaborations with forensic labs to develop biomarkers tailored for the Indian market. Additionally, they aim to use archaeological datasets to reconstruct population and evolutionary histories of certain diseases and to understand the evolution of host-pathogen interaction.