Researchers at the Institute of Bioinformatics in Bangalore have helped decipher the human X-chromosome leading to identification of dozens of new genes.
The results of the study, conducted jointly with a team from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, have been published in the April issue of the international journal Nature Genetics.
"This is the acid test, which proves that the bio-informatics efforts in India can be internationally competitive," Akilesh Pandey, chief scientific adviser to the institute and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, told PTI in an e-mail interview.
He added: "This is the first time an institute has provided an independent analysis of any human chromosome. This is also the first large scale bio-informatics effort by any research organisation in India."
Pandey said the research was financed internally.
For 18 months, 26 scientists of the Indo-US team pored over the sequence of X-chromosome to identify genes and other important parts of its deoxyribonucleic acid.
By comparing human X-chromosome to genetic information from chimpanzees, rats and mice, the team uncovered dozens of new genes. Many of these genes are located in regions of the chromosome already tied to various diseases, the report said.
The results, as well as the data created by other scientists, confirm the existence of some of the newly identified genes.