On July 6, 2025, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Phenome India “National Biobank” at CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi. This biobank aims to revolutionize personalized medicine in India by collecting genomic, lifestyle, and clinical data from a diverse Indian population.

It supports long-term research on chronic and lifestyle diseases and is tailored to India’s unique demographic and genetic diversity.

Key Points:

• The biobank is part of the Phenome India-CSIR Health Cohort Knowledgebase (PI-CheCK) and will collect data from around 10,000 individuals.
• It aims to support personalized healthcare by enabling gene-based diagnosis, prevention, and treatment strategies.
• The project focuses on major diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, cancer, and rare genetic disorders.
• It is modeled after the UK Biobank but designed specifically for the Indian population, considering unique lifestyle and genetic traits.
• The facility will power AI-based diagnostics and CRISPR-based therapies, and help understand gene-environment interactions.