Which of the following statements with regard to GenomeIndia Project is/are correct?
- 1.It is a part of the Human Genome Project.
- 2.The project is funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.
- 3.Its primary aim is to build a catalogue of genetic diversity of the Indian population.
Select the answer using the code given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
GenomeIndia is India's own national genomics project, funded by the Department of Biotechnology, and its main goal is a catalogue of genetic variation across the Indian population. It is not a component of the Human Genome Project, which was a separate international effort completed in 2003.
- ✗ 1. The Human Genome Project was an international effort carried out from 1990 to 2003. GenomeIndia is a separate national initiative of 20 Indian institutions, not a part of it.
- ✓ 2. GenomeIndia is funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.
- ✓ 3. Its primary objective is a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variations reflecting the diversity of the Indian population; whole-genome sequencing of 10,000 samples has been completed towards it.
Remember · GenomeIndia = DBT-funded national project cataloguing Indian genetic variation; data released January 2025 through the Indian Biological Data Centre. Not part of the 1990–2003 Human Genome Project.
Sources
- GenomeIndia (Department of Biotechnology project website): funding ↗ · reference work “GenomeIndia is a pioneering scientific project funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. … The primary objective of GenomeIndia is to build a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variations that reflect the unique diversity of the Indian population.”
- National Human Genome Research Institute (NIH, USA): Human Genome Project Fact Sheet ↗ “The Human Genome Project was a large, well-organized, and highly collaborative international effort that generated the first sequence of the human genome and that of several additional well-studied organisms.”
Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·